The Zorua master
by That one guy named me
Summary: Everyone knows the tale of Ash Ketchum going from place to place winning badges capturing pokemon, but what if our friendly protagonist was a Zorua the whole time?
1. Chapter 1

Authors Corner: Tadaaaaaa a new story! PANIC EVERYONE TO THE BOMB SHELTERS ME IS WRITING AGAIN HIDE HIIIDEEE... anyway I've had this idea sitting in the corner of my mind for nearly a month now and its not been going away so I though "hey let's write that I'm SUREEE its original" spoiler its probably not, anyway just a fair warning Ash is going to be OP as all hell as in win all the things get all legendary pokemon OP but for now on with the show

* * *

Beep Beep Beep

This was the sound Ash woke up to every morning and now he woke up to it again but for once something was different, it was his 10th birthday and the day he would leave Pallet

For Ash and his human caretaker it was slightly different, it was the 10th anniversary of her finding him injured and taking him in

Because Ash Ketchum was a pokemon and at that a Zorua

But for the rest of the world be was Ash Ketchum the mute from Pallet who was to set off on his journey today, Journey! Thats what he was forgetting Ash looked over at his clock and saw it at 7:40 he had to be at Professor Oak's by 8:30 he had enough time

Ash got dressed picked up his multiple books which he used to talk checked his illusion in the mirror and walked downstairs by the time he got downstairs his mother had already packed his bag with basic supplies until he made it to Viridian

"Hi Ash ready for your big adventure today?" Asked his caretaker a smile on her face Ash gave her a thumbs up before walking out "come back before you leave town" his mother called before the door closed

"Right time for my journey to Oak's!" Ash spoke in a low tone so no one would pick up on his speak not being human

During the short walk to Oak's a few people waved hello to Ash as he walked to the lab when he arrived he saw a crowd surround by a massive group of people more than the whole of Pallet

"GARY GARY GARY" was being chanted through the whole crowd as Ash instead of pushing through the crowd he climbed over the fence and walked to the back exit before walking in to see Gary Oak walking out the front door

"Ah Ash your here" Proffesor Oak called turning around a smile on his face Ash simply responded with a small wave "I'm sorry to disappoint you Ash but the other 3 trainers have already picked up their pokemon there's none left for you" this shocked Ash, how do you forget about there being 4 trainers in Pallet its not that hard

"However I have one pokemon left but he's not the conventional starter" Oak continued Ash rolled his hand in a 'go on' manner "Its a pikachu I found him in Viridian Forest but hes, let's say disobedient but with how you are with pokemon I feel you can bond with him" Ash nodded with no hesitation before Oak handed him a pokeball with a lightning bolt on it Ash nodded than released the pokemon

"Uhh I feel dizzy" the pokemon said half drunkenly before shaking its head "oh god I was caught wasn't I?"

"Yeah sorry about that but it wasn't me, I however am going to ask you if you will accept me as your trainer so will you at least let me try to prove myself to be worthy?"

"And why sh-" the Yellow Rodent stopped mid sentence "did you understand me?" He asked bewildered

"Yup I'll explain when we're out of town just trust me on it, so will you let me try?" Ash asked extending his arm out to Pikachu who hesitated for a second before climbing up it and to Ash's shoulder

"I guess you'll do" he muttered

Ash nodded to Oak as he passed him the Pokedex and 5 pokeballs "good luck Ash hope it all goes well" Professor oak told him as he ran back to work

"So where are we?" Asked Pikachu "I ate to many Lum berries last night" he sighed

"Pallet town in the south of Kanto we're a town away from Viridan Forest" Ash explained giving the short version as they snuck around the back and over the fence again

"I'm going to see my caretaker off before we go that okay?"

"Yeah yeah just leave me outside"

Ash gave a small smile "if you insist" he then picked up pikachu placed him on a windowsill and walked into the house

"HEY I DIDNT MEAN IT COME BACK HELP HEELLLLPPPP THE WRITERS A SOCIOPATH PIKACHU HATERRRRRR" Pikachu screamed as Ash walked into his house

Pikachu waited outside on the windowsill for a few minutes before Ash walked back out

"Damn writer and his want for comedic relief" Pikachu grumbled as he jumped into Ash's shoulder

"What do you mean writer?"

"Nothing..."

Ash and Pikachu soon reached the gate of Pallet before walking out into the forest

"So what's this big secret that couldn't be revealed in front of the of the other human" asked Pikachu

"I'll show you but you may want to jump off my shoulder first" Pikachu did so and with a small backflip Ash dropped his illusion leaving only his bag and hat on the ground

"Tadaaa the great illusionist is here" Ash proclaimed as small fireworks appeared behind him

"WHA HOW ILLUSION SOLID NUH THATS NOT HOW THAT WORKS DAMN THIS AUTHOR AND HIS PLOT CONVINCE" Pikachu screamed to the heavens

"What author are you talking about!" Ash screamed back taking a illusionary form of the small mouse

Pikachu tackled him causing Ash to release a tiny bit of electricity back

"OKAY ITS AN ILLUSION NOT TRANSFORMATION HOW DOES THAT WORK?"

"Well" Ash began changing back into human and picking his hat back up "when Zorua or Zoroark are in danger their body adjusts to make their illusions more powerful- solid I was born with the gift to constantly use solid illusions"

Then they both noticed a spearow

"INTRUDERS IN TERRITORY INTRUDERS" it screeched flying high

"Ash what do we do?" Asked pikachu fear in his voice

Ash grabbed pikachu put him on his shoulder then grabbed his bag

"RUN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE"

The two ran through the forest

"ASH"

"ASH STOP"

"ASH YOUR ABOUT TO RUN OFF A CLIIIiiiff-" the two fell off a cliff

And fell in a river Ash swam to the top carrying Pikachu "WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME"

"I DID THREE TIM- RAPIDS"

Then the two were swept down the river again passing magikarp and a single Gyrados before Ash felt a pull on his coat and was pulled out the river

"Got yah now you Gyarados mother- oh its just a kid" sighed a voice near the two "WAIT WHY IS THERE A KID IN THE RIVER"

Ash scurried to his feet then grabbed a book out of his bag he opened it and pointed to a page that said "HELP"

Ash then got a good look at the girl she was a redhead wearing a basic yellow croptop and short jeans

"Why do you need help? And why are you using that book" she asked

Ash flipped pages and an insane speed landing on one that said "mute"

The girl nodded then looked around confused "okay but why do you need" a flock of Fearrow and Spearow appeared over the hill

The girl mouthed the word 'Oh' then glanced at Pikachu in Ash's arms injured from the fall "take my bike and go" she growled out as Ash ran over to the bike next to the tree and put Pikachu in the basket before peddling off "BUT IF YOU RUIN IT IM NEVER FORGIVING YOU"

Ash was peddling as fast as he could but it was no use as the flock caught up with him and started pecking him constantly throwing shadow balls at them but to no avail

"Ash cliff" Pikachu groaned out before the two sped off the cliff

Ash fell off the bike and let out a groan "second time today" before standing up seeing the spearow getting ready to attack

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? IM ASH KETCHUM FRIEND OF POKEMON AND I DONT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR REASONS BACK OFF FROM PIKACHU" the spearow looked surprised at this then looked to the Fearrow for help

"Get behind me Pikachu" Ash whispered so the birds wouldn't hear it

Then the birds attacked, Ash let off multiple attacks before being overwhelmed by the attacks, Pikachu just watched in shock as this pokemon he knew for a maximum of an hour risked his life for him

As Ash fell to the ground Pikachu let out a battle cry before jumping at the flock releasing all his electricity and knocking out all the birds leaving the mouse on the ground next to Ash

They both stared at each other before Ash started laughing "Well have I proved my worth to the great lord Pikachu or shall I be struck by his almighty thunder capable of destroying armies of birds with a single swing?"

Pikachu stared at him for a second then started laughing himself the two lay their laughing until a bird flew over them

"No way"Ash said in awe as the bird landed in front of the two

"Greetings chosen I am Ho-Oh" the bird spoke to stunned looks from the two pokemon "I have been told by lord Arceus to judge you on your first day of training if I see fit to join you and I do, young chosen will you have me as your pokemon to be trained and used in combat?"

Ash struggled to his feet "So let me get this correct, you Ho-Oh bringer of life to Johto and great bird of the skies want to join me as a trained pokemon?"

The bird nodded

Ash just stared at him for a moment before pulling out a pokeball and tapping Ho-Oh with it the ball didn't even shake before going DING signifying a capture

 **MEAN WHILE WITH OAK**

"oh Ash has a new capture I wonder what it HOLY SHIT" cried Oak falling out of his chair "HOW DID HE CATCH THAT?!"

 **MEAN WHILE WITH ASH**

Ash instantly released the bird from the pokeball

"Thank you chosen but I must leave legendary business and such before I do however I give you this bell if you are ever in need of me for battling transport or any reason ring it and I shall hear" spoke Ho-Oh giving Ash a small golden bell before taking off before landing again "oh almost forgot" he turned and burned the bike to a crisp

"YOU BURNED THE BIKE" Ash stated in shock, he had even tried to make sure it didn't get destroyed since the girl lent it to him

"Sorry Celebi said it must happen for the timeline to stay on track so please don't get mad" Ho-Oh clarified before taking off into the skies

Pikachu just watched in shock through the whole encounter "Ash did that just happen"

"Yes yes it did" Ash replied in just as much shock as Pikachu "So do you want to come with me?""

Pikachu did a double take before jumping up to Ash's shoulder "Course I do can't let the chosen one be without his king Pikachu slayer of birds"

Ash smiled as the duo continued down the road to Viridian City

 **MEANWHILE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

All the legends were gathered around a table from the lord of the distortion world Giritina to the bringer of fire Heatran to the guardian of time Celebi all were gathered waiting on the verdict of Ho-Oh and the arrival of Arceus

Darkrai sighed leaning back on his chair "this seems fairly clechae don't it?" He questioned receiving nods from the rest of the legends

"Still its needed we need to know if the boy is worthy" Muttered Mewtwo from the corner

"I feel the meetings are fun we get to do fun things like giving that Pikachu awareness of the universe" Mew called flying around in circles above the hall

"Still I don't feel a boy should be allowed to tame us why should we be made to follow a simple human?" Asked Regirock from his place with the other golems

Then Ho-Oh arrived bringing stares from the other legends

"WELL?" Practically the entire hall shouted at him, to which he gave a nod of approval

"TAUROSSHIT!" Screamed Groudon

"Language!" Replied the 3 lake guardian's

Groudon turned to face the 3 "WHY DOES IT MATTER A MEER CHILD TAMING US A HUMAN IS NOT WORTHY"

"Well it is a good thing he isn't human" a voice replied before Arceus appeared in the hall, in response all pokemon capable keeled and those who couldn't bowed their heads

Arecus shook his head"Damn it we've been over this stop bowing I'm done being the regal lord of all" all the legends looked up "anyway as I was saying the chosen isn't human, he is a pokemon"

Ho-Oh nodded again "Dark type if I could tell past the illusion?"

Everyone in the hall apart from Arceus stared at Ho-Oh "yep he's a Zorua" confirmed the god

"Wait what how trainer pokemon wha?" Groudon stuttered utterly confused

"Well you know how Zorua are illusion masters? Welll I kinda gifted him with the power to make solid illusions" Arceus clarified

Registeel raised one of his hands before Arceus nodded at him "wouldn't that make him as powerful as you sir with the power to create anything if he gets strong enough"

Arceus face took on a look that could only be described as 'oh shit' "Well I never thought of that but it would, shit, Well its done now so let's hope he don't go rogue"

Celebi who was chasing Mew around in a race stopped causing a crash in the race "You did do the bike thing right?"

Ho-Oh nodded "its done"

Groudon who seemed to have recovered from his shock slammed his hand on the table "OKAY SO WHY ARE WE MENT TO JOIN HIM?!"

Arceus shook his head watching the assorted snacks fly of the table causing Victini to run after them grabbing as many as he could to save then "we shall organize events during his life for each of you to test him if you deem him worthy as Ho-Oh did then you can join him, if not then don't"

"Okay but who's testing him next?" Asked Meloetta

"ME!" Mew yelled causing a second aerial race collision

Arceus nodded "okay but we need someone to go with you who will?"

"Since we're so similar you named us after each other I will go aswel" Mewtwo gave his response via psychic

Arceus nodded again "right, it will take place after he claims the eight badges of Kanto but now we need to rewrite the timeline... okay I have an idea Mewtwo your going to be a clone of Mew-"

Mewtwo interrupted "bitch what?"

Arceus continued like nothing happens "created by an evil team named team Rocket that will have found DNA of Mew deep in a forest!"

The hall was silent until Mewtwo broke the silence again "I'm sorry but what"

"Yup now time to change the timeline"

A clap of thunder echoed through the hall

Arceus shook his head "you don't need to do that... okay done!" Mewtwo disappeared from the hall "think I should've told him about the whole dying child?"

 **MEANWHILE BACK WITH ASH**

The fox and mouse had arrived at the gate of Viridian city but before they could enter they were stopped by a police women

"ID please sir!" The women asked, well demanded

Ash pulled out his pokedex and showed it to the woman

"Thank you sir! Can I be of any assistance?"

Ash nodded and pointed to Pikachu

"Sir is there a reason you are not speaking?"

Ash once again nodded

"Okay sir! If you need to heal your pokemon the centre is on your first right down the street"

Ash walked down the road carrying Pikachu in his arms

"Hey Ash"

"Yeah buddy?"

"Think that orange haired girl is going to come back for her bike?"

Ash stopped, he had forgot about the girl's bike and how the mystical rainbow bird has destroyed it

"No way how would she even find it" Ash concluded as he entered the centre

"Hello welcome to the Viridian Pokemon Centre how may I help you?" Ash gave a small sigh this would be the worst part of disguising as human, communication

He took out one of his books and flipped rapidly before landing on a page that said 'heal pokemon please?'

The nurse looked confused for a second before Ash put pikachu on the counter

"Okay then thank you sir" the Nurse walked off Pikachu in tow, the mouse didn't seem to mind and was half waving half flailing his arm at Ash in a goodbye

Ash sat down in one of the chairs in the and reflected on his day, he had started his pokemon journey as a pokemon a possible first, he had befriended a Pikachu that was caught whilst high off Lum Berries, had ran from a flock of angry birds and befriended and caught the legendary Ho-Oh said to be the bringer of life all in one day

However his thought train was interrupted by a shout from across the room

"YOU, CAP KID" Ash looked up his face in pure horror as the voice came from an orange haired girl with a black burned bike on her shoulder

"YOU BURNT MY BIKE" she screamed Ash scrambled for his bag and pulled out his book flipping rapidly before landing on a page that said 'didn't mean to!"

"I DONT CARE IF YOU MENT TO OR YOUR PAYING ME BACK MY BIKE" Ash flinched as she kept shouting she kept at it for a while until a hole was burst in through the ceiling before two 3 figures jumped down 2 looking human and one looking pokemon esc

"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE"

"AND MAKE IT DOUBLE"

"TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM DEVASTATION"

"TO UNITE ALL PEOPLES WITHIN OUR NATION"

"TO DONOUNCE THE EVILS OF TRUTH AND LOVE"

"TO EXTEND OUR REACH TO THE STARS ABOVE"

"JESSIE"

"JAMES"

"TEAM ROCKET BLAST OFF AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT"

"SURRENDER NOW OR PREPARE TO FIGHT"

"Meoowth dats right!"

Ash the orange haired girl and the newly returned Nurse Joy just looked in shock

The orange haired girl was the first to speak "did that meowth just speak?"

"Now hand over the pokemon and no one gets hurt" demanded the male voice

Nurse Joy just sighed slightly "here we go again" with that she walked behind her desk grabbed a pokeball and released a Dragonite

One word echoed through the whole room from pokemon to human "Holy Shit"

"Dragonite please show the three rockets the door, or window in this case" Nurse Joy commanded, Dragonite smiled before forming a hyper beam and sending the Rockets blasting to Deoxys domain

"TEAM ROCKETS BLASTING OFF FOR A FIRST TIMMMMEEE" the trio screamed being blasted into the air before a small 'ting' sound signalled there leave

Nurse Joy returned the Dragonite before walking to the back and returning with Pikachu looking good as new

"Here you go sir sorry about them"

Ash recovered from his shock and put his arm out for Pikachu to run up he gave the nurse a quick nod before turning to leave

Then the orange haired girl yelled at him, more "Oh no you don't! Until I get my bike back I'm coming with you"

Ash gave a sigh no one but pikachu could hear before pulling out his book and flipping to a page that said "name please?"

The girl was slightly taken aback "Misty, Misty Waterflower" she replied "yours?"

Ash flipped to the front page which said 'Ash Ketchum"

Misty nodded "Well Ash your stuck with me for now!" Ash sighed this wouldn't end well

The duo made it to the edge of Viridian after finding the gym closed Ash had a discussion with Misty that ended with them confirming to stay in the forest for 2 weeks to train

As Ash and Misty stepted into the forest Ash heard Misty's breathing audibly become quicker more nervous "what do you think is up with her?" Ash asked his mouse companion

"No clue, your the dark type that's the master of illusions I thought you would know"

Ash stopped at this "oh yeah your right" he looked ahead at misty and scanned every detail that had changed in her behaviour, first her breathing was quicker the more obvious sign, second she was moving slightly more erratically then usual all in all Ash concluded

"Shes scared of something" Ash clarified to pikachu

The mouse laughed "Real life Crobat man here!"

Ash smiled "are you Fletchinder then"

Then Misty screamed "HELP"

Ash ran as fast as he could to catch up Pikachu barley staying on his shoulder and when he arrived he saw... a caterpie

The Caterpie looked confused but then perked up when it saw Ash come

"Yay a trainer!" It exclaimed "I've been waiting to be captured so I can be trained please take me" with that it slithered over to Ash and looked up at him

"I uh sure" Ash replied before putting a pokeball down on the ground allowing Caterpie to make the capture, which he did Ash then promptly released him and set him on his other shoulder

"Hey Ash why don't you keep anyone in their pokeball?" Asked the mouse

Ash shrugged "Cause their weird to be in and outdoors is better"

Meanwhile Misty was still freaking out "YOU CAUGHT A BUG" Ash nodded "AND YOUR LETTINIG IT SIT ON YOUR SHOULDER?" Ash nodded again

Misty sighed "just keep it away from me"

"Why doesn't she like me?" Asked Caterpie

Ash considered everything that had happened "I think she has a fear of bugs not just you but bugs as a hole"

Pikachu blinked in surprise "You really are Crobat man"

"Thanks a-" Ash cut himself off "how do you know what that is"

Pikachu shrugged "writer thought it would make a good joke"

The double duo continued through the forest Misty set up camp whilst Ash found a clearing to train

"Right" Ash said dispersing his illusion "Lets get down to business"

Caterpie was in shock "your a pokemon?"

"Yup"

He smiled "oh okay"

After several hours of training Pikachu had finally learned iron tail after repeatedly smash a rock with his tail and caterpie had evolved to metapod where it would be cacooned for a week before emerging

On the way back however

"CHOSEN" sounded a screech as a bird divebombed and landed directly in front of Ash Pikachu on his shoulder and Metapod in his backpack

The bird was panting "I wish fight you pokemon battle use Pikachu win I join"

"Okay then, want to catch your breath first though?" Asked the trainer in question

"No thanks let's go" replied the bird prepared for a fight, Pikachu got off Ash's shoulder and assumed a battle pose

The bird instantly attacked flying high into the sky and diving straight for pikachu

"Use thunder as he draws near then quick attack to get out the way!" Pikachu smiled dodging the dive bomb before frying the bird and retreating

"Now iron tail on the right wing!" Pikachu lunged forward twisting in mid air crashing tail first into the birds wing tail with a metallic sheen a sound or reverberation filling the air

The bird tried to take off again but couldn't thanks to its injured wing

"NOW FINISH WITH A THUNDERBOLT!" Pikachu let out a cry before his body became encased in electricity as it fired towards the bird hitting him dead on leaving him stunned on the ground

"Okay you win capture me" panted the bird

"Are you sure you want to come with me?"

The bird nodded as Ash pulled out a pokeball tapping the bird it shock thrice before DINGing

Ash immediately released the bird who perched on Ash's head "great I've got a pikachu on one shoulder a metapod on the other and a bird on my head"

He made his way back to camp checking his pokedex for the bird who he discovered was a Pidgeotto

"Ash you have a Pidgeotto on your head" Ash nodded "oh okay" Ash,Misty and the other pokemon all eat some berries before heading to sleep Ash sleeping against a tree all three pokemon still in their possessions on his shoulders and head, Misty however was in a sleeping bag

One week later

Ash and his pokemon had been training religiously for a week and had agreed with Misty to leave the forest that day as he felt he was ready

On the way leaving the forest though Ash was interrupted by a sword being swung towards his head

Pikachu however saw it coming at hit it out the way with an iron tail

"Haha you have passed my test now we shall battle!" Shouted the voice of the boy who swung the sword

"Ash did he just swing a sword at you then challenge you to a battle?" Asked Pidgeotto

"Yup"

"Don't accept"

"I won't" replied Ash shaking his head at the boy before walking past him Misty following

On the way out of the forest however Metapod lit up

"Its been a week!" Shouted Metapod happily

The cocoon slowly cracked open Metapods eyes turned red and smooth wings grew out of the shell as legs appeared below it the shell streamlined into a body shape as antenna appeared from the head when the glow died down a newly evolved butterfree was standing on Ash's shoulder

"Wow that's a rush" panted Butterfree Pikachu and Pidgeotto nodded in confirmation

"Damn you and your evolutions" Ash mock shouted at them

An hour later the group had arrived at Pewter City

Ash pulled out his book flipping through before pointing to a page and showing it to Misty

"Can you get rooms I want to find gym?"

"Sure I'll be there for your fight" Misty replied walking to the centre

"Hey Ash?" Asked Pikachu

"Yeah?"

"How come you always have the right answer in your book, and howcome Misty can't hear you?"

"Both are illusions" Ash said opening his book to show Pikachu "the books actually blank but I flip pages to make it more convincing" showing the book entirely blank "as for your other question an illusion to make me seem silent to humans, it would be weird if a kid starts making fox noises in the middle of the road wouldn't it?"

Pikachu thought of this for a moment "touche"

The unlikely party of 4 pokemon arrived in front of a building recognized as a gym by the logo in the roof and statues outside Ash walked in and was greeted by a dark room

"WHO GOES THERE" spoke a voice to Ash's left, Ash pulled out his book and pointed tthe page saying Ash Ketchum in the vague direction of the voice

A spotlight lit up a boy sitting on a stone "Are you here for a gym battle!" Ash nodded "how many badges" he shook his head "none okay, this will be a two on two battle"

"Okay Butterfree your up first, and remember we have an advantage he cant hear our strategy and we can hear his"

"Go Geodude!"

"You get first move Ash"

Ash smiled "okay Butterfree Sleep Powder!" Butterfree let out a blue powder from its wings that Ash had to cover his mouth to not breath in, Geodude however wasn't as lucky and fell asleep

"Right now use confusion!" Butterfree's eyes glowed blue as Geodude was assaulted by seemingly nothing, however to a dark type or psychic type you could see blue lines darting everywhere focusing in on Geodude and pinning him over and over, this continued for a while until Geodude stopped floating signifying it had been knocked out

Misty arrived at this point to see Brock's first pokemon unconscious she was surprised she had expected Ash to immediately run in with Pikachu get beat than have to train but things were going his way as they seemed

Brock was in shock however his Geodude beat before it could land a hit, he decided to go for his strongest pokemon to test the kid

"GO ONIX"

Ash surveyed the massive snake and decided it wouldn't do well against fast opponents "Butterfree get back here Pikachu let's go"

Brock smiled seeing the switch Ash had just got lucky "you can't win your pikachu is in its cutest stage meaning it is weak"

Pikachu didn't even wait for a command before running forward and smashing a iron tail down on the Onix's head immediately knocking him out

The entire room went silent as Onix lay there unconscious until the ref called out

"The leader has no pokemon left the winner is the challenger"

Brock regained his composure and walked up to Ash handing him the badge "thank you Ash you have proven yourself and trained your pokemon well here is the first of your Kanto league badges" Ash nodded and took the badge

"Misty good to see you again, what beings you to Pewter?" Brock asked turning to Misty

"Ash burned my bike so I'm following him until he pays me back, how's your dream going Brock?"

Brock sighed "bad I can't leave the gym so I can't experience more pokemon without doing that I can't be a breeder how about you Misty"

Just then the door burst open revealing a man with a beard and a red hat he pulled off the hat and revealed hair just like Brock's

"Dad?"

The man smiled "yes Brock I'm back"

Brock ran over and hugged the man "I missed you"

"I did as well and I'm sorry, and Brock if you truly do want to be a breeder I'll take the gym you leave"

"Thanks dad" he then turned to Ash "your going around Kanto right Ash?" He nodded "would you mind if I came with you" Ash shock his head "thanks"

After saying his goodbyes Ash Brock and Misty set out for Cerulean and the site of Ash's next gym battle what will Ash face along the way find out next time as the journey continues

* * *

God this took way to long to write like a month and s half to long, so each chapter will cover one gym badge, if I feel an episode is pure filler with no development I will skip it if I can do anything with it I won't and I won't skip episodes with evolutions new captures etch until next time byeeeee


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Corner: Aaand were back, So I've changed the genre from Humor/Adventure to just Adventure for now since my humor skills are not that good, I still will attempt to add some level of comedy but for now its just an Adventure, This chapter will probably be shorter than last since there was only one episode between Brock's battle and Misty's battle buuut there will be a new capture! And Ash may not capture some of his pokemon from the canon the three I'm sure he wont will be Krabby, Muk, And the Tauros since they're never really used and could be replaced fairly easily, BUT THREAT NOT! Ash still will capture all the others and a few new pokemon so for now on with the show

* * *

"Hey Misty?"

"Yeah Brock?"

"How's your dream going? The catching all the water pokemon one"

Misty sighed "Not good I've only caught Starmie, Staryu and Goldeen"

Ash looked up from the map he was studying "Catch all water types hey? Thats alot of pokemon"

Pikachu nodded "Apparently there in the low hundred's" he smiled slightly "And I can electrify all of them"

Pidgeotto shook her head "Is all you think about battling"

"That and Pecha berries"

Butterfree laughed "I appreciate the finer things in life personally, like releasing spores for my foes to inhale"

Brock looked over at Ash "Ash whats your dream anyway?"

Ash hesitated then pulled out his book "Pokemon Master"

Misty laughed "Another kid obsessed with that! how do you even become a pokemon master anyway?"

Ash thought then flipped to a page that said "For me whatever allows me to keep travelling will make me a master"

Misty was slightly taken aback "Oh"

Ash flipped pages and showed it to Brock "Whats your dream then stone man?"

"Stone man?" Brock looked taken aback "Its to be a pokemon breeder though, keep pokemon happy take care of their young and help them recover if their injured"

"So Ash wheres your next Gym Battle?"

Ash showed him the map, which was real and not an illusion, and pointed to Cerulean on it

"Cerulean eh? Great place" Brock nodded his thoughts more directed at the ladies

Misty seemed to twitch at the mention of Cerulean "you don't need to go there now Ash we could go to... Vermilion for a gym battle?"

"She doesn't want to go" commented Ash

"Even Pikachu could figure that out it was kinda obvious" the mouse in question was currently distracted by some Pecha berries he had found "I wish to retract my previous statement"

Ash was about to point out no matter what they had to atleast go through Cerulean when a scream echoed through the forest, Ash immediately took off followed closely by Brock and Misty

Ash arrived on the scene first Brock right behind him to find a man being attacked by a swarm of Zubat "welcome to Mt Moon" sighed Pikachu getting into a battle stance, Brock sent out Geodude to help resulting in a very short battle of one thunderbolt and a rock tomb, Brock however managed to catch one of the Zubat

The man stood up and brushed dirt off himself revealing a man in a lab coat with glasses "aha thank you friendly friends I am Seymour a scientist of this here great mountain!" Misty arrived on the scene then "please friends would you please help me inside this great mountain someone is destroying the ecosystems of all the pokemon would you help me"

Brock nodded "I dig here for fossils I don't want it destroyed lets go" with that he walked in leaving Ash and Misty to follow the two looked at each other and followed Brock in

As the two caught up to Brock they overheated the conversation he was having with Seymour "and that's why the lights will destroy the ecosystem"

Brock nodded "but why would someone set up lights"

Seymour's face took on a grave expression "I believe they are after the moon stone not just a moon stone used by most trainers but the original one itself that fell from space"

"But who could it be?" Asked Misty

Seymour shock his head "I have no clue"

The group stopped at a crossroads one way lit the other two not "what way do we go?" Asked Brock

Seymour was about to say a way when a Clefairy holding a miniature moon stone like the ones used for common evolution walked through the crossroad going from one dark side to another, Seymour looked exited "we follow them! But please do not catch them" Ash nodded he wasn't going to catch without consent

The group followed behind the Clefairy who was chanting "Moon stone" with every step, Ash and the other pokemon being the only ones who understand sighed "one track mind you think?"

The Clefairy stopped chanting and instead started up a conversation "nope its just customary to chant for the Moon Stone!"

Ash looked taken aback and the other pokemon were just confused "you knew we were here?"

"Yup!"

Ash would've shaken his head if not for looking insane to the people behind him "and you didn't try to not be followed?"

"No since you are not the mean people!" She smiled continuing to walk along

Pidgeotto cawed "then where are we going?"

"To where the mean people are, which is here" she stopped and ran behind Ash's leg as three figures dropped from the ceiling one with red hair and female, one with blue hair and male, and a meowth

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people's within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth dats right!" The group just stared in shock at the entrance which was over the top to say the least

The blue haired one, James pointed dramatically at the Clefairy "now lead us to the moon stone! Or else!"

Clefairy inched behind Ash some more "please help"

Ash nodded "Butterfree your up" Butterfree flew off of Ash's shoulder and landed on a stone jutting out of the wall

Brock wasted no time and grabbed a pokeball from his belt sending it out "GO ONIX" the white light from the pokeball condensed into the large rock snake Ash had battled before

Jessie laughed "you call those pokemon! Our team can best them let's go James!" And with that she sent out a pokemon which appeared as a purple snake "Ekans shall destroy you!"

James nodded "Go Koffing!"

Ash didn't even wait for the match to officially start these people were destroying Mt Moon they had to be stopped "Butterfree sleep powder spread it to hit both of them" Ash covered his mouth as well, being a pokemon breathing it in would knock him out aswell, the spores spread over Ekans and Koffing before they had a chance to move, the passed out immediately

"Okay now Onix use Rock Tomb!" Onix roared as rocks appeared all around the poison types before one spiked them straight up and into Jessie and James

"Alright Butterfree now use psychic and send them flying" Butterfree's eyes began to glow as team rocket was surrounded in a blue light, unlike before where the psychic power was only visible to those immune and used to it it appeared being more powerful, Jessie and James along with Meowth. Koffing and Ekans were sent out the roof with a "TEAM ROCKETS BLASTING OFF FOR THE SECOND TIMEEE" and a twinkle in the sky

Seymour looked at Ash and Brock tears in his eyes "THANK YOU SO MUCH FRIENDS!" He ran over and hugged Brock in thanks and tried to for Ash who moved out the way

Clefairy was equally happy "thank you so much! Please let me show you the Moon Stone" with that she kept hopping, Ash signalled for them to follow and followed along

Roughly ten minutes later Ash and friends were standing before a rock taller than Ash radiating power enough that even some of the rocks around it were glowing, they stood there in awe as Clefairy climbed to the top and placed the moon stone on the top, a beam of light struck straight up as Clefairy gathered in the clearing and started doing a ritualistic dance as white light engulfed some of them, the one Ash had saved not included after the light died 10 Celfable were in the clearing

The Clefairy with Ash climbed down sadly from the Moon Stone "I didn't evolve this year again" she sighed sat down as the 10 Clefable climbed to the top in her place

Ash sat down next to her and watched "how come you didn't" as Clefairy was about to respond the Meowth Balloon appeared over the horizon "Pikachu blast them off straight away" and with a bolt of lighting team Rocket was sent off a third time

"I didn't evolve since I'm not strong enough yet, only the strong evolve and I never have time to be strong"

Ash nodded "would you like to come with me, me and my friends are going all around Kanto in a attempt to beat the gyms, if you want you can come with me then I will release you after the league so you can return to Mt Moon?"

Clefairy looked up "I WOULD LOVE TO!"

Ash nodded and set a pokeball on the ground "touch it when your ready then" Clefairy happily nodded and touched the pokeball, Ash immediately sent her out "welcome to the team!"

Seymour's face went through a range of emotions anger seeing Ash take out the pokeball, confusion as he put it on the ground, and finally one of understanding as Clefairy caught herself "Well Ash I don't know what you did but Clefairy wants to come with you and I'm not one to stop them, I'm going to stay here at Mt Moon thank you for helping me"

Ash and friends said their goodbyes and continued on the road to Cerulean

A day of travelling later Ash and friends had arrived in Cerulean a town despite all its water type association was as far as you could get from the ocean in Kanto, Misty sighed "I've got to do some things I'll meet up with you later" Ash and Brock were confused and watched as Misty walked away

Brock sighed "We should head to the gym she doesn't want to be here and despite the ladies I don't want a friend in distress" Ash nodded and continued on his way to the gym

Clefairy who was following behind Ash looked confused "Whats a gym you mentioned it yesterday but I don't really know what it is"

Pidgeotto cawed what sounded like laughter "And you accepted Ash's offer anyway?" Clefairy nodded "Oh well, a Gym is a place run by a Gym leader strong trainers who we fight to get a badge so we can go to the league and win"

Clefairy looked happy "So we get stronger" Ash nodded "Can I fight in the Gym then" Ash nodded again "Thank you so much!"

Ash looked deep in thought "I guess it will be you and Pidgeotto since she didn't battle in the last gym either, So if its a water gym they will probably have a pool for their water types to have an advantage, Clefairy can you swim?" she shook her head "Okay so we're going to need a way to get them out of the water how?"

Clefairy smiled "I picked up Shock wave from some of the Clefable!"

"Good good and Pidgeotto can fly above the water" Ash seekers happy with the strategy as they arrived in the gym

"I'll go get a seat Ash" Brock walked off the find the aforementioned seat

Ash was nervous two badges in three days would be hard Clefairy had only got basic training and the 'initiation' of sorts seeing Ash as a Zorua but if he could pull this off then he would be a quarter down of Kanto in one month "lets go then"

Ash walked into the gym which was arranged in a swimming pool style small log rafts making paths across the water to the gym leader, where three women sat each with different hair "if your here for a gym battle just take the badge and get out" the blue haired one said, Ash raised an eyebrow "we got beat three times in a row just take it" she grabbed a badge from the table between the three of them and thrust it at Ash

"NO YOU DONT" a voice sounded across the arena from the sidelines, one Ash knew, Misty was standing at the side of the pool and dove in swimming to where Ash was "As one of the gym leaders Ash Ketchum I accept your challenge!"

The women laughed "Back from your 'Water Pokemon Master' journey are we?"

"No but you idiots can't run a gym so I'm doing it for this fight, Ash with me" with that she crossed the wooden walkways to an arena, Ash followed suit as the referee got prepared

"This shall be a two on two battle between the gym leader and the challenger only the challengers may switch out Leader send out your first pokemon" Misty nodded and threw a pokeball which revealed a Staryu "PREPARED FOR BATTLE"

"Alright Clefairy your up" Clefairy bounded up to her side of the field

"BEGIN" the ref shouted

"Alright Staryu dive into the water"

Ash held back a smile this was exactly what he expected, Staryu dived into the water and started swimming at a rapid pace "Alright Shockwave the water now, don't spread your energy direct all of it into one area it will spread naturally!" Clefairy did just that sending electricity throughout the water forcing Staryu onto land "now double slap!" Clefairy jumped towards Staryu and slapped it 3 times

"Staryu watergun into swift force Clefairy into the water" Ash grimaced that was not what he expected, Clefairy fell backwards into the water from the blast of water and was forced under by the stars, a few seconds later she appeared above water flailing

"Clefairy you need to get out the water immediately!" Clefairy signalled okay and managed to climb onto land "now before you get hit minimize and go for another double slap" Clefairy did just that before jumping and slapping Staryu 4 times knocking it out "great job take a rest Pidgeotto your up" Clefairy ran back to Ash as Pidgeotto took off from his perch on his head

"Go Starmie" Misty threw her next pokeball revealing the Starmie "prepared for battle!"

The referee held up his flags "Staryu is unable to battle the challenger wins round one, round two is Starmie vs Pidgeotto BEGIN"

"Okay Pidgeotto let's finish this quickly! Use quick attack to get in close and throw Starmie into a wall" Pidgeotto sped forward before Misty could even begin a command grabbing Starmie doing a flip and throwing it into a wall "now Wing attack!" Pidgeotto dived towards the falling Starmie and before it could even hit the water collided with it wing glowing

When the attack finished Starmie was face up in the pool unmoving

"STARMIE IS UNABLE TO BATTLE, THE WINNER IS PIDGEOTTO AND THE CHALLENGER"

 **MEANWHILE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

the legends were gathered around Arceus having called for another meeting, all of them whilst waiting watching the battle

As it finished Tornadus laughed "I KNEW IT, YOU OWE ME 10 SITRUS BERRIES THUNDERUS!"

Thunderus winced "you don't need to shout"

"YES I DO SHOUTING IS FOR GLORY OF WHICH I HAVE"

Before an argument could break out the god arrived "hi again, so your probably wondering why I've called this meeting since Mewtwo is still being recreated, I will cut to the chase I would like to instate a new rule for the challenges so that if one of you wishes to test one of our chosens traveling companions you may go with them aswell"

Before Groudon could ruin the table again Genesect asked a question "um Arceus why would we go with them rather than the chosen, nothing against humans but why them over your chosen?"

Groudon nodded his head "the bug speaks the the truth what's so special about these 'companions'!"

Arceus did the best shrug he could "well I have chosen the companions, whilst not as powerful or special as Ash they all have something unique, and hey I never said you needed to"

 **MEANWHILE BACK WITH ASH AND CO**

Ash and Misty had regrouped back at the side of the pool "Congratulations Ash you beat me amazingly as Cerulean Gym Leader I award you with the Cascade Badge" Misty grabbed the badge from the table in the shape of a water droplet and gave it to Ash "now let's get back on the road I'm done with my sister's" Ash nodded and gestured to Brock in the stands to come down, the group met up said their goodbyes to Misty's sister's and set off for their next town

* * *

WOOP WOOP ANOTHER CHAPTER DOWN I got this done a lot quicker then my break between my other story's chapters and I'm happy about that! Yes Arceus has chosen Ash's companions and they all will have something special, but that comes later for now thanks for reading I'm gonna go sleep for a week BYE


	3. Chapter 3

Authors corner: 14 days til SuMo in EU as I write this! wooo... and everything's been leaked GOOD JOB LADS GOOD JOB, brighter side my writing is picking up in speed and there will be more episodes in this chapter as nearly every episode between Cerulean and Vermillion was important in some way but enough of me and rambling ON WITH THE SHOW!

* * *

Ash and friends were on the way to Vermillion after the success of Cerulean Ash was ready to go for his third gym badge

Misty however wasn't as excited "ASH DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE WERE GOING!?" after being on the road for a few days she was at her limit without a pokemon centre

Ash stared down at his map, it said there was a centre a few days away but after the days of travelling they should've arrived by now, he pulled out his book and flipped pages "I thought I did but I'm having second thoughts"

Brock looked over at the map "You're right it should've been a few miles back"

"Oh great, were hopelessly lost and nearly out of food!" Misty ranted "And I haven't managed to catch a single water type!"

Brock smiled "Don't worry about food I can cook, I had to looking after my brothers and sisters"

Misty sighed in defeat "But I still haven't caught a single water type"

Ash shook his head "The only reason she hasn't is because she hasn't been fishing"

Pidgeotto laughed "More like she doesn't want to catch magikarps over and over, good food but there everywhere and weak"

Pikachu stared in shock "How do you know what Magikarp tastes like?"

"Simple, I had to eat to live in Viridian Forest didn't I? Meat is good for flying, but trust me never try unless you're prepared to fight a Gyrados"

"and why's that?"

"Once I tried to catch a Magikarp as usual evolved right as I attacked it, was not a fun time"

As the group continued talking they arrived at a bridge "that doesn't seem safe" Ash observed with it being held up by a few ropes over a chasm

Pidgeotto did her best bird shrug "half of us can fly and you have a rainbow bird in case of emergency"

Brock looked at the bridge scanning it "we will need to go over it one at a time, Ash you and your pokemon first, then you Misty and finally me" Ash nodded and crossed the bridge all the pokemon with him, Pidgeotto on his head Butterfree and Pikachu on his shoulders and Clefairy in his backpack

Misty followed soon after shaking the whole way across the bridge until she made it to the other side, then Brock happened half way across he fell, the group had no time to react as he fell into the water

Ash was the first to move throwing his bag off his back digging around and bringing out a small pouch "ASH WHAT ARE YOU DOING" Ash gestured to Misty to wait, that or shut up, opening the pouch a small bell fell into his hand, one of gold the one given to him by Ho-Oh he rang it and the world seemed to stop around them

All the pokemon in the area fell silent as the chime of the bell echoed the only sounds water, until a silhouette of a bird appeared over the sun, flying quickly it landed in front of Ash appearing as Ho-Oh

Misty was in simple terms, shocked at the appearance of the rainbow bird, more so that Ash had seemingly summoned it with the small bell, Ash however wasn't in as much shock "I need your help my friend had fallen into the river!" Ho-Oh nodded taking off down the river scanning it for any sign of Ash's friend

Ash put the bell back in its small bag, the small bag into his bigger bag and the bigger bag onto his back, he turned to Misty who was staring at him in shock "Ash how did you just ring a bell and seemingly summon THE RAINBOW BIRD OF JOHTO?! Ash shrugged "AND WHY DIDN'T YOU BRING THIS UP BEFORE" he shrugged again and started walking

Misty continued berating him for a while as they walked eventually somehow she managed to get caught in a rope trap "OH GREAT NOW IM IN A TRAP GEE THANKS ASH" Ash rolled his eyes and started looking around for anything to cut her out with when Ho-Oh appeared over the hirizon again landing in front of Ash

He bowed his head revealing Brock on his back "thank you for summoning me chosen, I hope I am of need again soon"

Brock got off his face in shock as Ho-Oh took off, he recovered his wits and spotted Misty in the rope trap he pulled a pocket knife out of one of his coat pockets and cut her free "So Ash I was just rescued by a rainbow bird who seems to respect you, how come you never bought this up?"

Ash relayed the story of his first day on route one, from Pikachu ignoring him being attacked by the flock and Ho-Oh giving him the bell after he finished Brock's eyebrows had achieved orbit and Misty was too stunned to stand, she however was the first to ask a question "WHY DIDNT YOU BRING THIS UP AND WHY DONT YOU BATTLE WITH HIM?!"

Ash shrugged and flipped book pages "didn't think it was necessary, as for the battle part it would make battles too easy"

Brock nodded "I respect that, its why us gym leaders use different pokemon depending on how many badges the trainer has to teach them and to teach ourselves and our opponents how to adapt to new battling styles" Ash nodded his point proven

The group continued through the forest Ash keeping eyes out for more traps, none appeared and they eventually arrived in front of a cottage in a clearing Ash scanned the area looking for anyone "I guess we ask for directions from whoever's in the cottage"

Ash walked towards it to knock, and promptly got smacked in the face with a vine"Ow!" And again, and again, and again oh you get the point

Ash ended up on the floor all his pokemon knelt over him "what do we do?!"

"I could use metronome!" The group considered this

Pidgeotto nodded "go ahead, what could go wrong" with that Clefairy waved her left arm from side to side in a simple one two rhythm, when it was done a ball of orange light formed between her hands, the group stared in shock before all diving for cover it was hyperbeam

It hit Ash dead on causing him to immediately stand up looking for the attacker "WHY AND HOW?!" Staring around he saw another vine come for him ducking under it he ran towards it behind the wall it came from to find a bulbasaur "WOULD YOU STOP HITTING ME WITH VINES?!"

"No! Your intruders!"

"WERE HERE FOR DIRECTIONS!"

"Well my direction for you is leave" he hit Ash again with a vine

"I SWEAR TO ARCEUS IF YOU HIT ME WITH ONE MORE VINE I WILL SEND YOU TO THE DISTORTION WORLD WITH MY BARE HANDS!"

Bulbasaur hesitated and raised another vine before being interrupted by the door opening revealing a woman blue hair and red overalls "Bulbasaur stop attacking strangers!"

Bulbasaur stopped his vine and muttered something along the lines of "I'm sorry"

She sighed "I'm sorry about him please come inside" before anyone could move however Brock ran towards her and grabbed her hand

"PLEASED TO MEET YOU IM BROCK AND I WOULD BE HONOURED TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU" Misty sighed walked forward and grabbed him by the ear "Or I could spend time with an aching ear"

The woman blinked "does this happen often?" Misty nodded her head "well okay then.. I'm Melanie I tend to the pokemon here" Ash looked around and noticed lots of pokemon around Melanie sighed sadly "they are all abandoned, their trainers left them same with Bulbasaur its why he's distrustful"

Ash nodded in understanding "makes sense if I we're kicked out onto the street by people I trusted I wouldn't trust people soon"

Pikachu shook his head "by cliches you would go live on Mt Silver for ten to fifteen years become super powerful leave kick the people who betrayed you into the ground and live happily ever after" everyone who could understand the mouse stared at him "hey I'm not saying it will but it usually does" everyone nodded as the sound of a wall shattering was heard

the group continued discussing looking for directions to the nearest town and where they could stay for the night when a balloon in the shape of a meowth appeared over the horizon

"Prepare for trouble we're here to take your pokemon" all who knew team rocket let out a groan

"And make it double its hard to rhyme!" Ash leaned over the Pikachu and whispered to him

Pikachu promptly shocked them "And we're blasting off for a fourth time!" was heard throughout the whole clearing as the group went flying to oblivion again

Bulbasaur was in shock at the whole affair this boy had just sent the team that seemingly wanted to steal their pokemon packing in one move "Who we're they?"

Pidgeotto cawed in laughter "A group that tries to steal pokemon, keyword tries they fail often cause of us" Bulbasaur considered this, the other pokemon at the village we're nearly as strong as him now and he did want to see the world this boy could be the one

"You trainer!" Ash looked around "Yes you, I wish to fight one of your pokemon other than the mouse if you win I wish to join you" Ash nodded and started discussing with his team who would fight Bulbasaur

After a short discussion it was decided it would be Butterfree as he hadn't had a fight since Mt Moon "Goodluck my Bulbasaur friend" with that the battle begun

"Alright Butterfree start with a stun spore" Butterfree's wings let out a yellow powder all the pokemon in the area covered there mouths, except for Bulbasaur who somehow managed to blow it all away with a gust "that was not what I was expecting" Bulbasaur wasted no time grabbing Butterfree with vines and slamming him into the ground Butterfree shakily recovered flying back into the sky "Okay now psybeam get the high ground!" Butterfree's eyes glowed as the attack most couldn't see bombarded Bulbasaur, Butterfree flew higher up out of reach of the vines "Now finish it with a gust!" Butterfree's wings beat faster and faster as a strong wind sent him flying backwards

"I am defeated!" he cried before anymore attacks hit him "You are a great trainer I wish to join you" Ash walked over and pulled a pokeball out

"You're sure?" Bulbasaur nodded and tapped the pokeball with a vine, Ash immediately released him out of the pokeball "Welcome to the team Bulbasaur!

The group said there goodbyes to Melanie and continued onwards towards Vermillion

A couple of days later and the group had arrived in a pokecentre on a hill

walking in Ash overheard a group talking "And so I released the weakling he's probably still on that rock waiting ha!" Ash's face fell there would be an abandoned pokemon nearby and he needed to at least talk to it he gave the pokemon over to the Nurse Joy but not before Brock had immediately proposed to her and went out with the explanation of "Want to go for a walk"

a few minutes later Ash found a charmander sitting on a rock alone with a leaf being held over its tail Ash climbed up and sat next to him "What are you doing up here friend?"

"My trainer said he was going to go do something and told me to sit here and wait!"

"How long ago was this?"

"...three days ago"

"Charmander I think he's abandoned you"

Charmander shook his head "No he can't have! he said he would come back!"

Ash sighed sadly "Okay then but please if it rains don't stay here find shelter the rock won't help" Ash climbed back down and headed back towards the centre

"Ash!" Misty waved him over towards their seat "good news we found the way to Vermillion! it's only two days south of here" Ash nodded sadly "Whats up?" he relayed the story about finding the charmander on the rock minus the part about him talking to it

Brock shook his head "Thats horrible, someone abandoning a pokemon on a rock" a heavy rain started to fall outside "We need to go get it!" Ash nodded and grabbed a coat to cover Charmander with before running at top speed out the door and towards the rock

He found Charmander still on the rock leaf over his tail which had its flame nearly out "YOU NEED TO COME WITH ME" Ash yelled over the sound of the storm "YOU'LL DIE IN THIS WEATHER" he climbed up and put the poncho over him

Charmander nodded "But I need to, I can't go I need to wait I need to come back after" he passed out Ash wrapped the poncho around him picked up Charmander and ran back as fast as he could

Ash arrived at the centre a few minutes later running towards the front desk one hand carrying Charmander the other grabbing the book out of his bag he ran towards the desk and threw the book open onto the counter it said "Found Charmander in storm dying help please" Nurse Joy looked at it and then at the Charmander in his arms

she nodded gravely and shouted to the back "I need a stretcher for a small fire type!" two chansey's came running a few minutes later a small stretcher being carried between them, Nurse Joy took Charmander laid him onto it and ran into the back with him "Thank you for bringing him" was all she could shout before turning a corner

Ash collapsed onto one of the many benches scattered through the center drenched with rain, Misty and Brock were sitting across from him "Ash I've been thinking of something" Brock said "How is it you can tell pokemon what to do in battles and how do you communicate with them so well, it often looks like your having full conversations with them?"

Ash walked over to grab his book thinking of an explanation while walking he grabbed it off the desk and flipped to a page "I'm not mute in the usual sense, It's more my voice is at such a pitch that humans can't hear it, yet pokemon can so I spent a lot more time with them when I was young eventually I just started understanding them" Ash was hoping that the two would believe him

Brock nodded hesitantly "I guess that makes sense, kind of" Misty nodded as well seemingly satisfied with the explanation, Nurse Joy returned a few minutes later with all of Ash's pokemon

"Thank you for waiting, and thank you for bringing that Charmander you've probably saved his life"

all of Ash's pokemon ran up and took their usual place around him or on him "So" Pikachu said "Whats this about you saving a charmander"

Bulbasaur nodded "I would like to hear this also" Ash relayed the story of how he found him on the rock earlier in the day seemingly abandoned by his trainer, and when the rain started how he went to get him, Bulbasaur growled "this is why I hate most humans, most of them at the first sign of weakness abandon pokemon"

Clefairy shook her head "I don't think most of them, just the bad ones you must've had bad luck with meeting them but Brock and Misty are nice" the rest of the group nodded some humans were nice

As the group continued discussing humans a boy walked up to them, one that Ash recognised as the boy who had abandoned Charmander "So you saved my charmander eh? too bad now I have to get rid of him again" the boy laughed "weakling couldn't even beat a gyrados!" everyone in the area had gone silent watching "So I thank you now I can get the satisfaction of getting rid of him again!"

what the boy didn't notice however was that Nurse Joy had arrived at her desk again "Sir I will have to politely ask you to leave our premises"

the boy scoffed "And what if I don't"

Nurse Joy shook her head "I will have to call the authorities and report this incident of possible pokemon abuse not allowing you to leave this building until you are taken in for questioning" The boy looked stunned and ran out the building, Nurse Joy sighed "I will have to report this anyway though" she picked up a phone from under her desk and started dialing a number

The rest of the day was not eventful Ash, Brock and Misty discussed the path towards Vermilion and how long it would take to reach it, when nightfall hit everyone retired to bed, except for Ash who stayed with Charmander for the night, Charmander woke up some time before dawn seeing Ash next to him surrounded by his pokemon he smiled to himself, if it was true and Damian had abandoned him then this boy would hopefully take him in he fell back asleep soon after

The next morning came and everyone left the centre towards Vermillion along the road however Ash was stopped by a Charmander "Hi" the lizard said "You saved me yesterday and now I know my trainer has left me, please can you take me in?" Ash nodded happily and took out a pokeball tapping it to his head, it didn't even shake as Ash released him from the pokeball immediately, he climbed up Ash's back and took a place in Ash's backpack

And thus the newest member of the team was captured

one day of walking later and the group was nearing Vermillion with a day of travel left and Ash's next gym badge on the horizon what could lie on the path ahead "So Ash" Clefairy asked "What's your plan for the next gym?"

"Well I was planning on using Bulbasaur and Charman-" Ash fell into a hole along with all the pokemon "SON OF A GROWLITHE" he looked up out of the hole to see Misty and Brock looking down on him, then they fell in the hole as well with the sound of laughter coming from above

Ash climbed out the top of the hole to see six squirtle surrounding the hole each with sunglasses on one, who seemed to be the leader, laughed "The human climbs out good for him, lets push him back down" they all approached Ash but before they could do anything a siren sounded and they all scattered

A officer Jenny came riding into the clearing on a motorcycle she looked around the area and spotted the hole next to Ash "You!" she pointed at Ash "Did a group of squirtles do this?!" Ash nodded "Damn it they got away again!" and with that she got back on her bike and drove off

after everyone else had climbed out the hole they scanned their surroundings "There's a town ahead" Brock observed "We could get some supplies there" the group agreed and set off towards the town, sometime later they arrived buying some supplies they planned to get on the road again when they were approached by the Officer Jenny from earlier

"You!" she pointed at Ash, again "I need your help, you saw the squirtles earlier?" Ash nodded "they're a group abandoned by trainers, because of this they don't trust humans and are committing crimes can you help me capture them?"

Charmander sighed "Why are all humans so mean, apart from Brock and Misty they all seem to be releasing pokemon"

"You and Bulbasaur seem to think that" Clefairy countered "but there are nice ones! One helped me at Mt Moon" the group continued talking

Ash pulled out his book and flipped pages "I'll help, what can I do?"

Officer Jenny saluted him "Thank you sir, everyone else said no, I need you to... well be bait essentially if you stay outside the town they'll eventually attack you if you could fight them and bring them to me then we could arrest them" Ash nodded it could be fun

The group set out of town a few minutes later prepared to catch the squirtle they camped out near a lake where Misty started fishing and eventually caught something "Finally!" she pulled it out and it ended up being one of the squirtles, which sprayed her in the face and jumped back in the water "DAMN IT!"

Ash sighed and pulled out his book "I'm going to go look around for some berries see if it helps attract them" he walked out of the clearing in search of berries, when he arrived back with no spoils he was shocked to find everyone but Charmander gone "CHARMANDER WHAT HAPPENED!?" He shook the fire type which was face down asleep

He groaned as he woke up "owowow that hurts" he noticed Ash "Oh thank Arceus your back, the others were kidnapped by the squirtles and a group of humans! And a meowth I think, but it was speaking human!" Ash held back a growl, team rocket had somehow made friends with the Squirtles

"Did you see where they went?"

Charmander nodded "yes follow me!" With that he pushed himself onto his feet and ran into the forest Charmander leading the way they arrived in front of a cave some time later "they went this way so unless they changed course they're in here" Ash nodded and looked inside

Inside the Squirtles were all sitting around keeping guard against the humans tied against the wall with Meowth watching the Pokemon in cages he laughed "if I give dis to da boss he'll think I'm his top cat!"

Ash stepped back from his hiding spot outside the cave he leaned down to Charmander "I'm going to go in and distract the Squirtles and Meowth you need to burn the ropes holding Misty and Brock then work on the cages okay?" Charmander nodded

Ash strolled into the cave "oh hey guys just here for negotiating my friends release" the cave stared at him "yeah you missed me in your kidnap plan" then Meowth lunged at him

Ash ducked and ran towards the cages drawing the squirtles away from Misty and Brock as Charmander crept into the cave towards the ropes

Ash meanwhile was running circles around the cage kicking its fairly weak bars at every opportunity whilst dodging water guns "AT LEAST LET THE POKEMON GO KEEP ME IF YOU WANT"

The leader squirtle stopped along with the rest of the group "you would sacrifice yourself for your pokemon?" Ash nodded still side stepping to avoid Meowth "let em go boys" the Squirtles immediately backed away "and let the Charmander do es thing swell"

Ash blinked "you knew he was here?" Meowth stopped swiping at him and fell on the ground from exhaustion

Squirtle nodded "hard to be stealthy when you've got a flame on yer tail" Charmander got Misty and Brock freed "here let me help with the cage" with that Squirtle walked up and shot the lock clean off with a water gun

Meowth stood up "Good for nothin Squirtle's, if you want something done BOMB IT" with that he ran outside the cave and climbed a ladder that had just been dropped from the sky, from the Meowth Balloon

"Prepare for trouble with a loud bang!"

"And make it double boom bang pang!"

Meowth hit the rocket's on the head "they know it by now let's not extend the word count more" the group nodded as Ash made it outside with all his pokemon in tow, then the explosions started, lots of explosions

Ash flinched as the world seemed to erupt around him "DONT WASTE TIME SEND THEM FLYING" with that the pokemon nodded and released multiple attacks sending Team Rocket away for the sixth time

Misty looked around the area "the forest will catch on fire if we don't stop it!" With that she realised her water types "Ash anyway you can help?"

Ash shook his head "not me but... Squirtle's can you help with the fire?" The turtles nodded and set to work

An hour later and between Brock's rock types Misty's water types and the Squirtles the fire was put out and the Squirtles became town heroes being the new fire fighters for the town

Ash and company left soon saying their goodbyes to the Squirtles and town but on the road to Vermilion Ash was stopped by another one of the squirtle, the one with glasses the leader "hey, you we're a great guy back in town and my gang's all became firemen but I don't want that see? I wanna get stronger so can I come with you?"

Ash nodded then hesitated "yes but I'm at the limit of Pokemon I can have with me, if I catch you you'll be sent to a ranch for a day until I can trade one of my team to tea in you is that okay?" Squirtle nodded and Ash tapped the pokeball on him which ping'd immediately and was soon teleported off to Professor Oak's

He looked back at the group of pokemon around him "Clefairy is it alright if you go to Oak's for a while?" Clefairy shook her head "okay thanks"

The group continued towards Vermillion arriving at the city the next day Ash ignored at the boats and went to the pokecentre handing all his pokemon other than clefairy to Nurse Joy he walked over to the PC "Okay Clefairy" he looked over to the main desk to see Brock being dragged away from Nurse Joy by Misty "you're going to need to be in your pokeball for a while is that okay?"

"Its okay, I don't mind them but being outside is more fun" Ash nodded returned her to the pokeball and placed it into the transfer slot, hitting a few buttons it disappeared and a few seconds later was replaced by Squirtle's

He released him from the pokeball, Squirtle shook his head then looked around and finally at Ash "there's the trainer I know" he jumped onto his shoulder then climbed into his backpack "mind if I ride back 'ere?"

Ash laughed "not in the slightest if you don't mind sharing with Charmander" he stood up and made his way to the main desk

Squirtle shook his head "not in the slightest, kid was good from what I saw"

Ash retrieved his pokemon from Nurse Joy, Chatmander taking his place in the backpack shook his head "I swear this backpack is a universe sized hole in time"

Ash sat back down waiting for Brock and Misty to arrive as they went to do things when a boy ran in with a Pidgey in hand, he sprinted to the front desk "PLEASE HELP SURGE BEAT ME!" Nurse Joy sighed and called to the back for a Chansey, one came out a moment later with a stretcher Nurse Joy lightly took the bird and laid it down on the stretcher then signalled for Clefairy to take it back

"I swear" she sighed "since Surge got that raichu its been nothing but injures, that's the third one this month" it was the first of the month

Pikachu growled "Ash I want this fight, the Raichu in a one on one" Ash looked at Pikachu on his shoulder and nodded, the mouse had a look best described as the face of a pokemon ready to fight for his life

Brock and Misty arrived a few minutes later and the group set off, Ash looked over to Pikachu and asked the question everyone wanted to "So Pikachu what so you think about evolution"

The mouse sighed "I've had bad experiences with raichu, I do want to be stronger one day I want to evolve but first I want to be such a good Pikachu I could destroy any Raichu with one hand tied behind my back and my other arm chopped off"

Ash nodded "okay then, when we're done with this battle we can go buy two everstones"

Pikachu nodded happily then stopped "why two?"

Ash laughed happily "if you're not wanting to evolve until your the best the I'll be with you every step of the way unevolved and strong" he smiled along with the group, except for Squirtle who was confused

"Ey what does trainer boy mean by him evolvin'?" Pidgeotto gave the abbreviated version of Ash being a pokemon "trainers one of is eh? Good my gang reputation isn't ruined"

The group made it to the gym advertised by the sign out front as the home of the 'lightning Unovan Lt Surge" Ash walked in and was immediately stunned by the lights

"So another baby for me to crush!" Ash looked around and pointed to himself "yes you your my next challenger right? Cause I know my other gym leaders don't stand a chance"

Ash let out a low growl and pulled his book out "one on one, the raichu"

Surge laughed "you want to fight my strongest? Fine, I'm sorry baby" with a flick of his wrist he sent out Raichu "what scared?"

Ash shook his head "Pikachu lets make this quick as possible he's an ass" Pikachu nodded and charged towards raichu dodging behind him as he swing his tail he uppercut him, with an irontail, to the back of the head before Raichu recovered Pikachu hit him again and again with Irontail before backing up and shocking him at maximum power

Raichu fainted "You.. you beat my strongest pokemon that quick" Surge laughed as Misty and Brock clapped "you're good kid" he pulled the badge he was wearing off his coat and threw it to Ash "now win that league, I don't want anyone to think I lost to a loser" Ash smiled and nodded in conformation he would win

After saying goodbye's Ash and friends were prepared to set out for the sight of Ash's next gym badge when they were stopped by two horribly disguised Team rocket, that only Ash recognized "hey lucky trainers!" Jessie called out to them "you've been chosen to win three tickets for the S.S. Anne!" She shoved the tickets into Brock's hands "good luck!" With that she ran off with James in tow

Brock and Misty smiled "finally a holiday!" And before he could stop them they made off towards the boat

* * *

WOOTWOOT ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE and one more badge, next time the S.S. Anne arc and some other things, for now I'm gonna go rest and hide from the internet in the five days I have before SuMp comes out in the EU bye!


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Corner: Alola!... I've been playing Moon way too much, but enough of my bad procrastination habits and onto the chapter! Ericka was the first gym leader in the series who really REALLY shouldn't have been a gym leader, in the anime at least, in games she's an easy fight. it did start a kind of trend though of each region having that one gym leader who shouldn't be one, her and Sabrina in show really grind my gears so I shall try to make it better. anyway on with the show

* * *

We find our heroes on the docks of Vermillion City exploring the city before setting off for Celadon City

"Why are we at the docks again?" Pikachu asked

Butterfree sighed "Because Misty wanted to see the boats remember?"

Misty continued lecturing a bored Brock on all the different boats in the harbour "And thats the S.S Anne, one of the largest-" she was cut off by two, poorly disguised, people with Blue and Red hair running up to her

"Hi! You've been chosen to win three free tickets for the S.S. Anne!" the red haired one threw the tickets in Misty's hand "Good luck!" and with that the two ran off

Misty stared at the tickets "We we can go on the S.S. Anne?!" she stuttered "YES!" she posed for no apparent reason "COME ON BOYS WERE GOING ON A BOAT!" she took off at top speed towards the boat

Ash and Brock looked at each other and shrugged "Would be fun" Brock said "Misty said there's stalls there for all sorts of things" with that Brock ran towards the boat catching up to Misty followed closely behind by Ash

"So" Ash panted mid run "We're just going to ignore that was team rocket?" the pokemon nodded "oh okay, kind of feel sad for them anyway, they've been blasted off what, six times? by us alone" Ash caught up to Brock and Misty

"Finally" Misty said "Where were you, lets get on board!" she showed the tickets to the man outside the harbour who let her on as well as Brock and Ash, minutes later and the boat had set sail towards Lavender Town's docks

"I guess were going to Saffron next instead of Celadon" Ash sighed sitting down with his pokemon "So apparently the gym leader is a psychic user, who wants to go?"

Charmander raised his hand "I want my first fight!" Ash nodded at him

"I'll take anyone on see?" Squirtle confirmed receiving a nod

"and that leaves me, I'm in" Bulbasaur stated

"okay good!" Ash smiled "guess now we just wait until we land"

a moment later a voice sounded over the speaker system "There is now a double battle tournament going on on the main deck, all who would like to enter please report now"

Ash looked at his team "anyone want to enter?" Butterfeee nodded and Pidgeotto tapped his ear in confirmation "alright, lets get going then" Ash stood up from his seat and climbed towards the main deck, after making it he quickly spotted a stall with an arena behind it

After walking up to it he was greeted by the runner of the stand "hello, are you here to enter the tournament?" Ash nodded "name please?" He sighed and took out his book, flipping it to the page that said 'Ash Ketchum' "uh okay, and who would you like to enter?" He pointed to Pidgeotto and Butterfree "thank you sir! Please wait over there" he gestured to a row of benches "and we will call your name when your match is on"

Ash made his way over to the benches and sat down "its now I realise the flaw in this plan" Butterfree said his eyes widening "if I use my spores I might hit you Pidgeotto"

Ash's face fell "I didn't think of that" he sat there thinking for a moment before a voice interrupted his train of thought

"I may be able to help there partner!" Ash looked up eyebrows raised to see a girl, or maybe a boy with yellow hair and a straw hat on "having problems with spores I here?"

Pikachu starred at them "how do they know what we're saying? Shouldn't your illusions mean they can't hear you?"

Ash shook his head "no clue, but the illusion thing makes sense kind of, its like wishes you have to be super specific, ergo the illusion is if someone can't understand pokemon they can't here me" he turned back to the person "but you can correct?"

They nodded their head "yup! Names Yellow! I think I may have the answer to your problem as well!" They sat down next to Ash "so you think Butterfree's spores will hit Pidgeotto right?" Ash nodded "well then why not have Pidgeotto flap her wings hard enough that it blows the spores in one direction, making them more concentrated!"

All the pokemon looked at them taken aback, Pidgeotto was the first to speak "how didn't I think of that, its genius, I would say thank you formally but you keep your gender hidden well"

Yellow laughed "thanks, female by the by, I have a friend who doesn't know my gender after some seven years"

Pidgeotto smiled "well then thank you miss Yellow"

"No problem!" she reached her hand out to Ash "never got your name, what is it incase we meet again?"

Ash shook her hand "Ash Ketchum, I'll be the one with pokemon climbing all over him, will I see you in the tournament?"

Yellow shook her head "No, I'm not a fan of battles but"

she was cut off by the sound of a voice over the speaker "Ash Ketchum to arena one please?"

Yellow sighed "Well I'll be seeing you later I guess, hope to see you soon" she stood up and walked away as Ash made his way to the arena, arriving he was admitted into the arena, facing his first opponent

the man in front of him bowed "Well met friend, good luck" he threw his pokemon out, a gyarados and furret "impressed?"

Ash rolled his eyes "Alright, let's go" Butterfree and Pidgeotto took off from his shoulder "alright let's put Yellow's strategy to the test concentrated sleep powder on that gyarados" Butterfree flew low to the ground as Pidgeotto took off the the sky, Butterfree let out blue spores flapping his wings a second later they were blasted by a powerful wind towards gyarados forming a straight line directly making contact, who immediately fell asleep

the man stared in shock "but..." Pidgeotto took the opportunity to dive bomb furret knocking it out "wait!" Butterfree's eyes glowed releasing a psychic energy that hit gyarados knocking it out as well "WHAT!"

the speaker rang over the crowd "And the winner of this round is Ash Ketchum!" Ash nodded calling Butterfree and Pidgeotto back to there perches and walked back to the benches

a man stopped him on the way "You were amazing out there lad! your Butterfree is amazing, willing to trade it for my Raticate?"

Ash stared at him incredulously and shook his head walking past him, he sat down at the benches, a man in the uniform of the contest walked up to him "Good job out there Mr Ketchum, you will be called again for the semi-finals" Ash nodded

Brock walked up to him "nice job out there Ash! Misty entered it as well, from what the officials have been talking about the top three contestants get an egg" he sat down next to Ash "The shops here are amazing also" his eyes seemed to drift off "and so are the girls" he stood up to ran, Ash put his foot out and tripped him "And so is the ground" he sighed

A voice ran over the speaker "Ash Ketchum to arena two please?" Ash picked Brock up gave him a thumbs up and walked towards his battle

When he arrived a look of shock came over his face "Yellow?"

Yellow smiled "Who is this Yellow you speak of! I am Amarillo del Bosque Verde! fighter of Viridian!" she threw two pokeballs revealing a Golem and a Dodrio "And these are my partners!" she laughed "I cant keep this up" she said between laughs waving as she did "Hi Ash! ready for a fight!"

Ash nodded "As I will ever be" he laughed "Though my strategy of not letting my opponent hear me might not work Butterfree Pidgeotto lets go!" Butterfree and Pidgeotto took off "Poison powder on the Golem go!" Butterfree released purple spores from his wings which were quickly sent straight towards Golem hitting it

Yellow sighed "Dody whirlwind keep Pidgeotto's concentration!" Dodrio ran under Pidgeotto and started running around as fast as possible creating a strong wind that kept hitting Pidgeotto, not hurting it but stopping him from doing anything

Ash growled "that's bad" then a thought came to him "Butterfree use psychic to stop Dodrio from moving!" Butterfree's eyes glowed as a blue glow surrounded Dodrio stopping his movement, the winds around Pidgeotto stopped "now Pidgeotto steel wing Dodrio!" Pidgeotto got her balance and dive bombed towards Dodrio wings taking on a metallic sheen

Yellow winced as the hit collided, knocking Dodrio out "Don't worry I'll get you healed soon" she returned Dodrio to its pokeball "Okay Gravvy we've got to do this quickly, use rock throw to create a cell around Butterfree!" Golem picked up rocks from the ground quick as lightning and threw them around Butterfree, all around him and above stopping him from moving

Ash looked at the cage and grimaced "that's bad, Pidgeotto quickly steel wing" Pidgeotto took to the skies and dived towards Golem wings metal she collided yet Golem was still standing, Ash smiled "Now Butterfree!" the rocks around Butterfree glowed blue and in a flash were sent flying towards Golem hitting him dead on knocking him out

the sound of the announcer drowned out the cheers of the crowd "AND THE WINNER IS ASH KETCHUM! KETCHUM ADVANCES TO THE FINALS!" Ash nodded towards Butterfree and Pidgeotto calling them back, he walked out of the arena and back towards the benches

Yellow sat down next to him "Good job Ash, that was a great fight, glad I got to fight you"

Brock sat down next to him and Yellow "Yeah it was, nice to see you again Yellow its been a while, glad to see Golem doing well"

Yellow nodded "Same to you Brock, haven't seen you since the volcano" she stopped to think her words out "incident"

Brock laughed "yeah that would be the best way to describe it, how's Golem these days?"

Yellow's smile faltered "oh right" she pulled the pokeball out of her pocket and placed one hand on top of it, a second later her hand glowed the light covering the pokeball, she smiled and did the same with another pokeball, when she was done she looked up to Butterfree and Pidgeotto "mind if I?" they shook there heads and Yellow repeated the process on the duo

Pidgeotto looked herself up and down "wow good as new"

Brock smiled at the scene "so you and Ash have met?"

Yellow nodded "yeah, he's a great guy, you know him how Brock?"

Ash laughed "he tagged along with me cause he had nothing better to do!"

"Oh" Yellow nodded "families back then?"

Brock nodded then stopped midway through "wait did you understand him?"

The speaker rang out as Ash's face fell "Ash Ketchum to arena three for the finals"

He looked at Yellow desperately trying to convey seriousness whilst keeping a neutral face "Yellow please for the love of Arceus I need you to make up a convincing lie why you can understand me despite the fact I'm mute"

He got up and made his way towards the arena prepared for his final fight, to his surprise he found Misty as his opponent, she seemed equally shocked "Ash? You made it all the way to the finals!" Ash nodded "oh, well good for you but your streak ends here!" She threw out two pokeballs releasing a Starmie and a Staryu

Ash stared at them "somehow I feel Yellow was ment to meet us in the fibals, oh well lets go!" Butterfree and Pidgeotto took off to there usual positions "okay don't waste a moment sleep powder on Starmie!" The duo did there combination of a concentrated blast of sleep powder and sent Starmie to sleep "now full power on Staryu!" A multitude of attacks filled the arena lighting it up, when it was done Staryu was fainted "now finish it!" The same happened again, and then Starmie was down

The crowd cheered as the announcer shouted over the speaker "Ketchum wins!"

Ash looked around "that was anticlimactic to say the least"

 **MEANWHILE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

Arceus was pacing back and forth in the centre of the hall an annoyed expression on his face

Moltres sighed "its been a chapter and a half and no ones broken the ice so I will" his voice took on an obviously fake happy tone "hey Arcrus what's up?"

Arceus turned and stared at him "THEY SHATTERED MY FORTH WALL LAST CHAPTER! THATS WHATS WRONG ITS SO ANNOYING TO GET ONE OF THOSE AND THEY BROKE IT"

Articuno sighed "and you didn't bring this up last time because?"

Arceus stared at the ground "writer entirely forgot last time"

Zapdos shook his head "wow bad writer, and now we've wasted our screen time"

 **MEANWHILE BACK WITH OUR HEROES**

Ash sighed as he waited to be called on stage with Misty who took second, and Yellow who took third "I still feel we should've fought Yellow at the end"

Bulbasaur patted him on the back with a vine "don't worry, you still won so who cares which order you fought them in"

Pikachu looked up from his Chesto berry "that and the writer is super lazy so he does fights in the order he thinks them up!"

Bulbasaur nodded "that too"

Charmander sighed "our poor poor fourth wall"

Yellow looked over at them confusion on her face "your pokemon make less sense then Gold"

Misty smiled "I don't know, that's pretty hard to top Gold"

The announcer's voice rang out over a microphone causing all the pokemon to flinch from the sound "AND IN THIRD PLACE YELLOW!"

Yellow smiled at Misty "see yah after the awards" she adjusted her hat and walked on stage waving

Misty smiled sadly as she watched Yellow walk on stage, she turned to Ash "you know Sabrina used to be part of team rocket?" Ash raised an eyebrow "half of the gym leaders did, Surge was too, they've reformed but when we get there, be on your best behaviour Ketchum"

The announcers voice rang out again "AND SECOND PLACE ONE OF THE GYM LEADERS OF CERULEAN MISTY WATERFLOWER!"

Misty nodded to herself and walked up on stage, Ash was left waiting with his pokemon "so.." Pikachu began "who wants to break the fourth wall with dumb reference humour?"

"All of us" the group save for Butterfree and Pidgeotto rang out

They talked back and forth as all the fourth walls known to man crumbled around them until the announcer was heard again "FINALLY FIRST PLACE ASH KETCHUM!"

Ash walked on stage smiling at made his way to the announcer "congratulations Mr Ketchum, any words?"

Misty looked over from her place on the stands and yelled "he's mute!" At the announcer

The announcers face fell for a second before composing himself "well congratulations Ketchum! Please take your place on the first place stand"

Ash nodded and took his place on the stands next to Misty and Yellow as the a man in a white outfit came onto the stage carrying three eggs, one blue patterned with a shell design on the back, one pure white with lines all around it and finally an egg that from the bottom up was pink, yellow, blue and red with wings patterned on each side

The announcer smiled "and the third prize egg!" The man holding the eggs gave the white one too Yellow "the second prize!" He gave the blue egg to Misty "and finally out first prize" he gave the multicoloured egg to Ash "LETS HERE IT FOR OUR VICTORS FOLKS" the crowd cheered as the ceremony ended

Later after all the festivities ended the group sat around at a table prepared to eat "Yellow" Brock began "you never told me how you can understand Ash"

Yellow laughed uncomfortably "well I think its because I understand pokemon so well my body developed to be more like there's"

Ash held a smile on his face whilst internally screaming "Yellow that's so bad I will take a thunder from Pikachu if Brock believes it"

Brock nodded extremely hesitantly "that's probably it"

Pikachu laughed as Ash's face paled "you underestimate plot convince"

Brock shook his head "no, that makes no sense at all"

Yellow shrugged "I don't know honestly" she went back to her food trying to be avoided

Ash sighed "Thanks Yellow"

the group continued talking for a while until a voice was heard over the speaker "now"

Ash looked around at the room confusion on his face, around half the other passengers did, the rest threw off there clothes to reveal team rocket outfits, with Jessie and James being in the centre, Yellow's face turned to one of fear "oh arceus not again"

Jessie grabbed a microphone from a nearby stunned worker "Now, give us your pokemon and we can leave nicely" the rockets started advancing on the trainers

Ash nudged Yellow "Hey Yellow, can you just remind everyone were trainers we can battle them"

Yellow smiled "oh yeah" she whispered "TRAINERS!" she yelled over the crowd "WE'RE TRAINERS RIGHT? SO WE CAN BATTLE THEM" a cheer went up over the crowd as pokemon were released left right and centre, in a brilliant flash of light team rocket was sent blasting off in mere seconds

Ash sat back down "that was easy" the rest of the night passed with festivities from the Rocket's defeat and the next morning our heroes arrived in Lavender Town

"so Yellow" Ash began as they walked off the boat "what are you going to do now?"

She adjusted her hat "I'm going to head down to Cinnabar Island to meet a few friends, I guess your going to fight the gym leaders?" Ash nodded "well I'll see you at the league I guess"

Ash and the group waved goodbye to Yellow as she set off to the south, they left the town the same day as according to Brock "the town is haunted, we need to leave"

a few days of travel later and our heroes arrived in Saffron city with sites on the gym, but first a stop in the pokecentre, "Hey Butterfree"

"Yeah Ash?"

"mind switching with Clefairy for a bit so she can see the fight at the gym?" he asked sitting down, carrying the egg in his arms

Butterfree flew down and hovered next to Ash "I wouldn't mind, just bring me back for the next fight okay?"

Ash laughed "got it!" he gave the rest of the pokemon to Nurse Joy and walked over to the PC "You may have to be on your pokeball for a bit, hope you don't mind" with that he returned Butterfree and started pressing buttons on the PC, a second later Butterfree's pokeball was replaced with Clefariy's

he released Clefairy a moment later, she looked around then noticed Ash "Hi Ash!" she spotted the egg in his hands "You got an egg?!"

Ash laughed "Yeah, won it in a competition, we took a boat to get here so on the way there was a tournament we won first prize and it was this egg here"

Clefairy nodded "neat, where's everyone anyway?"

Ash gestured towards the counter "Being healed, Brock's shopping and Misty is probably fishing, she won an egg as well"

Clefairy sat down next to Ash "So whats the gym this time? I'm ready if you need me!"

Ash laughed "Its a psychic type, I've already got three members picked out" Clefairy's face fell "But! if we need a fourth your in" Clefairy smiled and nodded

the two sat for a bit before Misty came back in the centre "Ash!" he looked over at her "I caught a new pokemon" Ash smiled and gave her two thumbs up, she walked over to Nurse Joy and gave a pokeball to her before walking and sitting next to Ash

"Ash Ketchum to the desk please?" Ash stood up and walked over to the desk where Nurse Joy was waiting with his pokemon "Thank you for your" she cut herself off mid sentence and looked at the egg in Ash's hands "Sir would you like an incubator for that egg?" Ash thought for a second then nodded, the Nurse leaned down below the desk and stood back up an incubator in her hand, Ash took it and carefully placed the egg in it before returning to sit next to Misty with his pokemon in tow

a few minutes later Brock had arrived back "Alright, Ash are you ready for your gym battle?" Ash nodded enthusiastically "lets go then" the group made there way towards the gym, minutes later they were there, Ash was the first one to step in, and was promptly greeted with a single room with the gym leader at the other end, sleeping

Misty and Brock looked at each other eyebrows raised "doesn't she know she know when challengers are on the way?"

Brock nodded "yeah, because of the whole psychic thing"

Brock carefully stepped towards Sabrina and lightly shook her awake "Sabrina, you have a challenger"

she yawned "mk give me a-" she realized what Brock said "WAIT CHALLENGER" she stood up and composed herself, a dark tone under her voice "Hello mister..." she paused and looked confused "Why cant I do any psychic stuff on you" Ash shrugged "wow, you've ruined my whole dramatic moment, thanks" she muttered

Ash laughed "dramatic psychics are fun to mess with"

"So I assume you're the one here for a fight, not my fellow gym leaders?" Ash nodded "four on four?" Ash looked taken aback then nodded

Ash gestured for Brock, who came over, he then carefully gave Brock the egg pulling out his book which said "if it starts hatching call off the fight" Brock nodded in understanding

Sabrina lifted a pokeball up with her psychic powers "how many badges do you have?" Ash held up three fingers "Okay then"

A referee ran into the room "the battle between... who is he?" Ash turned his book to the page that said "Ash Ketchum" "The battle between Ash Ketchum and Sabrina the gym leader shall begin! Leader send out your first pokemon!" Sabrina threw her pokeball silently revealing a mr mime

Ash looked at it thinking "Clefairy you need to take it out quickly, before it sets up too many barriers" Clefairy nodded happily and ran onto the battle field

"BEGIN!" the referee called

"Alright, begin with a double slap before she even gets a chance to set up!" Clefairy nodded and lunged forward arm glowing white, she reached Mr Mime and started slapping it as hard as she could, after three consecutive hits she jumped backwards and landed next to Ash "Now use sing!" Ash covered his ears as Clefairy's voice carried across the pitch, Mr Mime was asleep a second later "Now finish with a wake up slap!" Clefairy lunged forward again, and then landed straight into a invisible barrier, Ash grimaced "Walk around the barrier!" Clefairy stepped to the left and tried to walk past, only to walk into another, she backed away to walk into another, realisation set for Ash and Clefairy, Clefairy was boxed in "Metronome!" Ash cried desperately Clefairy raised her finger and waggled it back and forth, then punched straight through the barrier, brick break had happened "NOW FINISH IT WITH WAKE UP SLAP!" Clefairy smiled and jumped forward arm glowing red, then she hit Mr Mime with full power knocking it out

Sabrina looked on shocked, then she smiled "Not many people beat that strategy, good job" Ash nodded and gestured for Clefairy to come back

the Referee raised his red flag "Mr Mime is unable to battle, the winner of round one is the challenger, Leader send out your next pokemon" Sabrina lifted up and threw it out silently again, revealing a Venomoth

Ash looked at it "Bug type, Charmander your up" Charmander nodded and ran towards the battlefield ready for a fight

the room fell silent as Ash waited for Sabrina to make the first move, without even hearing an order Venomoth's eyes lit up and a beam of energy shot from them "roll forward!" Ash cried, Charmander didn't hesitate diving forward into a roll dodging the beam "Now ember!" Charmander's tail burned brighter as small shots of fire were released from it, hitting Venomoth, who countered by releasing a bright yellow powder from its wings "BURN IT!" Ash cried not wanting Charmander to get hit, Charmander released a beam of bright blue energy from his mouth, which burned through the powder and hit Venomoth dead on, knocking it out "Nicely do-"

Ash was cut off as a bright white light enveloped Charmander lighting the whole room up, Charmander was evolving, the light subsided and revealed a Charmeleon standing in the place of Charmander, he looked himself up and down "wow" he whispered "I feel so much stronger!"

Ash smiled "Nicely done Charma-" he caught himself "Charmeleon, come back we'll get some training done later" Charmeleon nodded and ran back to Ash's side

The referee raised his red flag again "Venomoth is unable to battle, the winner of this round is the challenger! Leader send out your next pokemon" Sabrina nodded and threw her third pokemon out, a Kadabra

"Squirtle you ready?" Ash asked eyeing the Kadabra wearily

Squirtle nodded "Always boss!" he slid onto the battle field

"Lets not let them make the first move this time! Water Gun straight away!" Squirtle shot out a blast of water, which was caught in mid air by Kadabra's psychic powers "um... again?" Ash hesitantly said Squirtle did the same thing, and Kadabra caught it again, Ash thought "We're not going to get past it right now" an idea came to him "Fire water gun from every angle you can get!" Squirtle nodded and started rapidly firing water gun from all angles running as he did, a minute later and Kadabra was holding all of them in place in a globe around him, visibly straining him and Sabrina oddly "Now! dive through the water and hit one directly on him!" Squirtle smirked as he swam through the orb of water, then hitting a water gun straight into Kadabra's eyes stunning him, he dropped the water orb "Now keep firing!" Squirtle let out water blast after water blast hitting Kadabra every time, soon Kadabra was lying on the ground, knocked out. "Nicely do-"

Ash was cut off again as a bright light enveloped Squirtle "wow second time today" Ash commented as he covered his eyes from the bright light

soon the light subsided as a Wartortle took the place of Squirtle, he looked up and down at his new form "Even stronger, nice" he ran back to Ash before he called out "Yeah I know, the grass is getting a turn"

The referee held his flag again "The winner is the challenger yeah yeah you know the rest, next pokemon please" Sabrina threw her final pokeball, revealing a Alakazam

"Alright Bulbasaur, this is going to be hard, one good hit could take you out so we need to play this safe okay?"

Bulbasaur ran on the field and smiled "of course"

"ROUND BEGIN!" the referee called, then he paused "Wow I forgot to say that this whole match"

"Sleep powder as strong as you can!" Ash called, Bulbasaur nodded and released a blue powder, lots of it, Ash covered his mouth, Alakazam wasn't as lucky "Now end this super quick, vine whip!" Bulbasaur released vines that were coiled around the bulb on his back and hit Alakazam, alot.

"I give up!" Sabrina called her face one of shock "we wouldn't be able to win this match" She recalled Alakazam "well? call it ref"

the referee raised his flags in shock "The.. the gym leader forfeits?"

A white light enveloped Bulbasaur at this point "You know I would be more surprised if he didn't" Pikachu commented sarcastically

a second later a Ivysaur was standing in the place of Bulbasaur "neat" he commented walking back to Ash

Sabrina walked across the battlefield, a badge appearing in her hand "Good job Ash" she handed it to him "you have beaten my gym and doing so have been the first person to do so this season, may you do well in your battle at the league" with that she teleported out, along with the referee

Brock handed Ash his egg back "Wow Ash, you made Sabrina forfeit, that may be a first" Ash nodded happily as the group left the building

* * *

4 down, 4 to go! also Sun and Moon is the best thing to cure a cold, which delayed this update by a few days le sigh, anyway enough of that, next chapter is the fifth badge woot woot! Oh yeah and Yellow is from Adventures, which in this universe is canon up until Diamond and Pearl which haven't happened


	5. Chapter 5

Authors Corner: happy holidays! And welcome to a new chapter of "Ash wins lol" I mean uh Zorua Master... yeah... so as I'm writing this I just got back from Symphonic Evolutions which I would recommend to anyone, but enough of me and my love of music ON WITH THE SHOW

* * *

We find our heroes on the road to Celadon City to the sight of, as usual, Ash's next gym badge

"Ash!" Misty yelled "do you actually know where we're going?"

Ash nodded and pointed at his map, they were a mile away from the city "oh"

Pikachu sighed "I feel that we aren't getting much screen time this chapter?"

Clefairy looked at him "why's that?"

"Because" he replied "we aren't picking up Mankey and we need some filler"

Charmeleon sighed angrily "damnit"

 **MEANWHILE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

Celebi took a sip of her coffee as she looked over at a string filled with dots "ughhhhhhhhh" she sighed

"Whats up Bee?" Victini asked being the only other in the room

"They broke the timeline again, Butterfree should've left last chapter"

Victini shook his head "wasn't the timeline shattered when Ho-Oh joined Ash? or when Yellow appeared? Or when the SS Anne didn't sink"

Celebi threw the string away "but those are minor things, this is something major!" She pulled another string out of the air via time magic "now we're working on alternate timelines, Victini go get Jirarchi for me we need supplies"

Victini saluted "will do" and with that he flew down the hall to Jirarchi's room "thinking about it, we should rename this place to 'meeting hall of origin with lots of corridors leading to rooms were people live, or origin' wow, that doesn't roll of the toung" he arrived at the door marked 'Jirarchi' and knocked on it "star man wake up! Bee needs you!"

The door swung open to reveal Jirarchi eyes bloodshot "I haven't slept in three days, after this I'm sleeping til I'm selected to test Ash" he slowly flew through the hall with Vicini at his side

"You know its like twenty something chapters til your up right starman?" Victini said as they made it to the meeting hall

"Yes, that's why. Now Celery what do you need?" He yawned downing a cup of coffee

Celebi looked over from her string "well, lots of pins, a marker, rope, lots of coffee and for you to drug Dialga so he doesn't wake up for a week, hard enough to make timelines without a dragon yelling at me" Jirarchi nodded and glowed as the things appeared

"Dragons drugged. G'night" and with that he passed out on the ground

Celebi put two pins into the table and looped the rope in between them creating a string "wait... did he call me Celery"

 **MEANWHILE SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

we find ourselves with the two resident eon dragons of the Hall, more specifically with Latias waking her brother up "Latios wake up!"

A yawn was heard through the door "Latias its three in the morning why are you waking me up"

Latias rolled her eyes "because, its the chapter where the main characters are left on the side lines whilst we get all the screen time!"

The door slammed open revealing the blue dragon "oh craps lets go!" He took off down the corridor the power of a thousand wants for screen time powering his speed

Latias simply took on the form of her friend Bianca and walked down the hall to the main area

"What do you mean its going to take until Johto for me to get my screen time!" Latios yelled from the meeting hall talking with Cresselia

The dream guardian shook her head "did you miss yesterday's meeting? Arceus said its only going to be when Ash is in our region that we will meet him, and technically Alto Mare is in Johto"

Latias walked into the hall "and how many badges does he have now? I mean Johto is close to Kanto so it makes sense he would come to Johto now"

"He's got four" Celebi yelled "and you" she pointed at Latios "have a twenty two chapter wait"

"Argh!" Latios cried "why are you disguised Latias?"

She shrugged "its good practice, so I can actually get out sometime, the real question is why you don't have a disguise"

Latios rolled his eyes "we've been over this, I need to stay and protect the soul dew"

Cresselia looked at the passed out Jirarchi and Victini sitting next to him "does anyone want to move the sleeping star?" Everyone shook there heads "okay"

 **MEANWHILE IN ANOTHER PLACE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

For our next bad transition we find the lake spirit's arguing over menial things

"Why do we even guard the time gears?" Azelf asked

Uxie would've rolled his eyes if they were open "because, if they get stolen then time will stop"

Azelf shook his head "but that makes no sense! Dialga and Celebi are in charge of keeping time going! What if the gears get stolen do they just bugger off to the distortion world until we get them back?"

Before Uxie could've given the reasons why Azelf was wrong and dumb Mespirit burst into the room "Guys come with me!"

"We've been over this Mespirit we're breaking into a chocolate factory" Uxie sighed exasperated

Mespirit shook her head "no not that! Well I wanted to do that after... but that's not it! I figured out how we can protect the time gears easily!"

Azelf rolled his eyes "does it have to do with breaking the laws of space time again?"

Mespirit sighed "you break space time one time..." she shook her head "but no! I was thinking... what if we put puzzles on the gates to the dungeons? Ey eye?"

Uxie looked at her "Mespirit, we already do this. We've done it for years"

Mespirit smiled "yes but your puzzles suuuuuck, yours is bring a stone to a statue" she pointed at Azelf "and yours is make everything blue! Thats dumb!"

Uxie shook his head "but we also have precautions afterwords, we have guardians for ours. you have nothing"

Mespirit faulted "oh... so who wants to go break into a chocolate factory?"

"NO!"

 **Blah blah blah meanwhile hall etc**

"Celebi?" Diance asked "do you feel we're forgetting something?"

Celebi looked at her string in thought "no... bike broken, Ash got badges, everyone's been caught except for Krabby but oh we-" she dropped her coffee "OH CRAP HORSEA!" Celebi teleported quickly out the hall

 **MEANWHILE ACTUALLY WITH OUR HEROES**

"Brock you ever feel like we're not doing anything?" Misty asked sitting down taking a fishing break from the walk "I mean Ash has been getting badges left right and centre and we've been doing nothing"

Brock nodded "I know what you mean Misty, I was thinking about starting to expand my team though"

Misty sighed "maybe, but I have only caught one water type since we started this journey, and it was a magikarp" her line was nearly tugged into the water "NEVERMIND!" Misty reeled it in quickly pulling up a Horsea "great! go Staryu!" Staryu appeared in a flash of light ready to fight the Horsea, Horsea shook his head and had a quick conversation with the Staryu, who hopped over, grabbed a pokeball from Misty's bag and tapped it on the Horsea "oh, I've become Ash"

 **MEANWHILE WITH EVERYONE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

"So... your probably wondering why I brought you all here" Arceus began, the room nodded in confirmation "well, its that time again. we are creating a new region"

Zygarde nodded "is this what you were talking about when you said I was getting a new form, I got duped in Kalos"

Arceus nodded "yes, you get three new forms. and we are introducing five new legendaries, two of them are prevultions to the other legionaries"

Reshiram slammed his hand against the table "YOU CANT HAVE EVOLVING LEGENDARIES! OR PREVOLUTION LEGENDARIES!"

Phione raised his hand "but I'm here"

Reshiram hesitated "Everyone's still confused Phione don't worry" he turned back to Arceus "BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT!"

Zekrom slapped him in the back of the head "Shut up Reshiram and let the newbies be introduced"

Arceus coughed to bring attention back on him "as I was saying, the region shall be named Alola, Magerna sorry it took some time this is your origin point, and you can all visit it as you want, the new legends names are Sogaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Cosmog and Cosmoem" the Alola legends appeared in the hall "now. Dont do what you did to Hoopa to them"

Hoopa glared at Arceus "I still have some semblance of sanity! And hey I turned out normal!"

"That could be debated" Kyrurm muttered

 **MEANWHILE WITH OUR HEROES**

"the one on one battle between Ash Ketchum and Erika the gym leader shall bow begin! Leader send out your pokemon!"

"Go Gloom!" Erika shouted throwing her pokeball, revealing the aforementioned gloom

"Pidgeotto your up" Ash commented as the bird took off from his head

"Go!" The referee shouted

"Alright lets make this quick, wing attack full power!" Pidgeotto took off to the top of the building, then divebombed into Gloom, knocking it out

The referee blinked at the site "the winner is the challenger, I'm just gonna... reconsider my job"

Erika threw the badge at Ash "good job, new get outta here" Ash nodded and with that left the building

"Good job Ash!" Brock clapped him on the back as they walked out the gym "hey Ash, I was wondering if we could make a stop at a town nearby?" Ash nodded enthusiastically "thanks a lot"

* * *

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the fandom, not a player was stirring, not even the breeders

The stockings were hung by the systems with care, in hopes of finding a masterfully in there

The shiny hunters were nestled all up in their beds, thoughts of different coloured pokemon filling there heads

However I sat in my bed, tapping at a keyboard putting my rhyming skills to the test

When out in the tall grass arose such a clatter! I clambered out my bed to see what was the matter

It turned out it was nothing, and I was going mad since I was up at 11 PM writing instead of snoring

I got bored, Christmas is tomorrow so I wrote this... happy holidays to all! And I hope we won't get another chapter as short as this since there should be better pacing soon... wait... oh god the filler between badge 6 and 7 OH GOD OH GOD WHY... feel free to review and insult me to hell I'm sure it will help somehow... I'm gonna sleep now


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Corner: and 2017 is here! I took a little break so I didn't write for a while but IM BACK BABAY and its time for another semi short chapter since Kanto had as good a pace as I have good comedy; to say it simply we try to forget it exists

* * *

We, as usual, find our heroes on the road to the site of Ash's next gym badge! But as of Brocks request they have taken a detour and currently find themselves on the road to Scissor Street, which unlike the name is actually a city. However for now we join Ash and the Pokemon in a late night training session

Ash slung his bag down next to a tree and gently placed the egg next to it dropping his illusion afterwords "alright who's ready to train?"he asked looking at the group of Pikachu,Clefairy,Wartortle,Charmeleon,Ivysaur and Pidgeotto who all cheered in confirmation

Ash smiled "okay! Clefairy you go with Pidgeotto work hitting aerial targets, Pidgeotto you focus on attacking grounded targets" Clefairy nodded and Pidgeotto let out a caw of agreement, the two took a place next to a few trees to train

"now" he looked to the starters "I want you three to work on fighting outside your element" the trio looked at him confused "what I mean is fighting somewhere where someone else has the advantage, like fighting next to a river or lake for Charmeleon or near fire for Ivysaur, understand" the group nodded and walked to a nearby river, Charmeleon lighting a small fire and Ivysaur gathering a pile of leaves

"And that leaves me" Pikachu pointed out

Ash's smile grew tenfold "I know, your with me. For accuracy"

The mouse laughed "Ash no offense your a great trainer, but you haven't been fighting much"

"I know" he laughed "I should probably fight more, but you forget my illusions! Your challenge is to hit me whilst I try to dodge!"

The mouse smiled "what kind of challenge is that" he fired a bolt of electricity at Ash, who disappeared

"One that relies on illusions!" the fox replied

"Argh! Take it like a Mon!" The mouse cried releasing electricity in all directions, hitting Ash and the unintended target of Wartortle

"Ouch, nice shot" Ash coughed before noticing Wartortle "Oh crap!" He assumed the human illusion again picking up Wartortle "Pikachu get Clefairy and Pidgeotto to stop there training, Charmeleon there's a small golden bell in my bag get it!" the group nodded and went to do there jobs

"Ash what happened?" Clefairy asked as she and Pidgeotto approached

"Wartortle's injured we need to get to our group, Brock might have something to heal him"

Charmeleon then returned with the bell in hand "What is this anyway Ash just looks like a bell"

Ash took the bell "the others didn't fill you in? just watch" with that he rung it and as before the world stopped, and then the bird of legends appeared

the group that hadn't seen Ho-Oh before gasped as he touched down "What can I do for you my chosen?"

Ash rolled his eyes "no need for formalities" his face became serious again "Wartortle is injured, we need to get back to our camp sight can you find it?"

Ho-Oh nodded "indeed, I can carry everyone"

Charmeleon recovered his senses "is that... Ho-Oh?"

Pikachu nodded "We weren't joking about him being the chosen one"

Ivysaur shook his head "if I didn't know any better I would think it was an illusion"

the group climbed on and took off, soon via plot convenience the camp was found

Ho-Oh touched down and Ash wasted no time putting the egg down and running into his and Brock's tent shaking him awake

"Ash?" Brock yawned "what time is it?" Ash shook him again and tried pulling him up "alright I get it you need me to get up" Brock stood up and walked out of the tent, before pausing seeing Ho-Oh "oh right" Ash ran past him and picked up Wartortle who was being carried by Ivysaur's vines pulling his book out his bag as he went

he flipped pages before coming to one that said "Wartortle was injured during training, can you help?"

Brock nodded taking Wartortle "I think, what I don't understand is how you had that as a page?"

Ash flipped notes again "wrote on flight with Ho-Oh"

Brock nodded hesitantly "And you also wrote that?" Ash nodded "okay then, pass me my bag its in the tent" Ash ran into the tent and grabbed the bag, giving it to Brock the gym leader set to work

a few hours later and Wartortle was healed nearly as good as a Nurse Joy could do and the sun was just rising

"Nice shot Pika, woulda been great in my old gang" Wartortle commented as he stood up

the mouse laughed "except for the fact I'm not a squirtle, and neither are you now"

Brock sat down and smiled "he's all healed, and the suns nearly up so we'll be setting off soon" he looked over at Ash "no more late night training ok?" Ash nodded "good, I'm going to wake up Misty, pack my bag would you?" he turned to Ho-Oh "Thank you for helping" with that he went to wake up Misty

"I hope to see you again, Chosen" and with that Ho-Oh took off going to wherever rainbow birds live, or more likely Johto

Ash packed Brock's supplies "well that was a good one thousand word filler" he commented as he finished packing

with Misty up Ash, Brock and Misty set out for Scissor street again, which was conveniently nearby

"odd how we didn't see this yesterday" Brock commented "then again it was dark"

Pikachu nodded "that and plot reasons" he then looked down in thought "guys, isn't Psyduck meant to have joined us around now?"

Ash shook his head "I feel sorry for our fourth wall, it must have been destroyed by now"

the group entered Scissor Street, the town, and went to Scissor Street, the street "this confuses me" Misty sighed "why name a town a street and then name a street the same as the town!"

"Well" Brock began "the street is also known as Breeder's lane, which is how people tell the difference usually"

Misty nodded "okay, but why are we here?"

Brock pointed out a shop "that's the shop of one of the most famous breeders, I wanted to get some tips from her"

the group nodded and headed towards the shop Brock had pointed out, as they entered in a bell above the door rang "hello?" A voice from the back of the shop called

"Is this Suzie's breeding centre?" Brock yelled back

A woman appeared from the back of the shop with a vulpix following her "yes, how may I help you?"

Brock scratched the back of his head not thinking this far ahead "well I'm a breeder myself, and I was hoping for some tips from a professional"

The woman nodded "I'll happily help! And your friends?"

"I'm a water type trainer, and my friend Ash is a gym challenger" Misty clarified

The woman nodded happily "well come with me then"

And thus Brock received several hours of vigorous training that we don't have the time, nor patience to write about

Hours later the group was leaving the shop, Brock having learned multiple tips

"Brock, before you go" Suzie called him back "I wish for you to take Vulpix, your the only person who's food she's liked other than mine, and I think she wants to see the world which you can do"

Vulpix nodded "I do wish to come, your food and friends are of standard"

Brock nodded "thank you! Its a honour" Suzie briefly walked back into her shop and walked out again, now having a pokeball in hand

"Next time we meet you better be a famous breeder Brock" she joked "and take care of Vulpix"

And with that the group left Scissor street, which was soon visited by Team Rocket who had lost track of the twerps

 **MEANWHILE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

"you ever wonder what we actually do?" Entei asked as him, Suicine and Raikou sat down in the hall "I mean, we got revived thanks to Ho-Oh and then what? We sit around until someone shows up and yells at us to get into a pokeball?"

"Personally I like it" Suicine added "imagine how someone like Palkia must feel, who's entire job is to keep reality from folding in on itself, all we do is smile and look pretty"

"Aren't we ment to be looking for special people to be our heroes?" Raikou pointed out

"Oh cause that went soooooo well last time" Entei remarked "I do miss them though, was fun"

 **MEANWHILE BACK WITH OUR HEROES**

"Where is Janine hiding her gym now anyway?" Brock asked looking at his map

Misty shrugged while fishing "don't know, I'm just glad to be fishing again" a tug on her fishing rod alerted Misty to the catch "bingo!" Misty hurriedly reeled in the rod, revealing a Psyduck, who flew over her, landed on a pokeball which shook once, twice, three times and caught "did that just happen?"

Brock laughed "yes, yes it did"

Ash looked around at the scene amused, then spotted a building in the distance he nudged Brock and pointed to it, Brock looked over "good spot Ash, that looks like Janine's gym"

And so our group made way to the building, which in fact was the gym

"Hello challenger!" A voice cried from the room as Janine herself appeared in the middle of the room "I am Janine the poison type gym leader and I shall be your fight for today!"

Ash nodded and put the egg down pulling out his book "rules? And before you ask its Ash Ketchum"

"One versus one okay?" Ash nodded "got it, Referee!" She yelled

The referee ran into the room "this will be a one on one fight versus Janine the gym leader and Ash Ketchum the challenger, leader send out your pokemon"

"Gladly! Go Venomoth!" And with a flash of light Janine's Venomoth was revealed

"Pidgeotto you want to go?" Ash asked

"Gladly" and with that she took off prepared to fight

"Fight start!"

"Pidgeotto use a gust as hard as you can! Try and keep it trapped in a whirlwind" Pidgeotto nodded and with a flap of her wings let out a blast of air that collided with the bug type and circled around it keeping it trapped in a whirlwind "now steel wing!" Pidgeotto launched herself into the whirlwind wings gleaming, colliding with the bug knocking it out "wait how did... oh right steel beats poison... I planned that"

Pidgeotto landed on Ash's head and took her usual perch "you are a unusually bad good trainer"

"I shall take that as a compliment" Ash grinned

Janine walked over to Ash badge in hand "congratulations Ash, you have outsmarted me and won the soul badge, now go win so I don't feel so bad about being curbstomped"

And with that our heroes made haste to the next gym battle, and lots. And lots. Of filler

* * *

Authors corner: eyyyy curb stomp battles are fun right? I hope that will be the last one, but this chapter was short as anything and I was going off the levels off Janine's team in gen 2... its pitiful... anyhowzits next chapter is going to be fuuuuuuuuuuun with like 30 episodes of filled ugh


	7. Chapter 7

Authors Corner: and now the moment you've all been waiting for! Nearly half of Kanto in one chapter because of the amount of episodes we've got 31 to go through and barely any of them are important... lets goooooooo

* * *

The usual situation we find ourselves in as Ash and friends are on the way to the site of the next gym, which in this case is Cinnabar Island, but for now they are on tthe way to the docks of Fuchsia City, which is a surprisingly long way away from the gym of the town

"Honestly" Misty sighed "Why would you put the gym 20 miles away from the town! that's just confusing"

Brock shrugged "I guess it fits in with the ninja aesthetic, making people have to find it"

"But why bother with aesthetic's! its just annoying to the people who challenge gyms" Misty yelled

"You're gym had a swimming pool challengers had to ride rafts over" Brock pointed out

Misty shook her head in annoyance "Still, putting it out in the wild is just overdoing it"

Brock was about to point out how they both knew it was there being gym leaders themselves when a Jigglypuff ran infront of them on the road

"Excuse me? can you help?" it asked

Ash walked infront of the humans and knelt down next to it "Sure, what do you need?"

Jigglypuff looked taken aback "you can understand me?" Ash nodded "wow, but I need help, whenever I sing people fall asleep. It's really annoying!"

Ash nodded "got it, let me talk to my friends"

Ash pulled out his book and flipped pages and landed on one that said "Jigglepuff's got a problem, everytime they sing everyone falls asleep"

Misty looked at him confused "Ash, do you know nothing about pokemon?"

"I know what it is" Brock clarified "Jigglypuff's singing is unique, in a sense it's singing makes everyone fall asleep, regardless of who the Jigglypuff is"

"oh" Jigglypuff looked shock "that... makes a surprising amount of sense, thank you!" and with that Jigglypuff left... to secretly follow the group from that point onwards

and so the group set off towards the next gym, stopping soon along the way at a pokemon center at a town with a dig site for fossils

"Want to go to the canyon Brock?" Ash asked, via book

Brock hesitated for a second "Sure, I've heard of a third fossil being found recently in Kanto, apparently a rock type, would be nice to get on my team" and so the group set off towards the canyon, the group arrived and were briefed on the proper etiquette for digging, which mainly involved not using explosives, and if you do find anything to report it then you will be allowed to keep it

"and the mute from Palette is here!" a voice cried from behind Ash as the group started digging

"oh god this asshole" Ash sighed, turning around to see Gary, his old friend from Pallette

Misty turned around and looked at Gary "Who's this Ash? a friend of yours?"

Gary scoffed "friend? no I am his superior! I am the pride of Pallette Gary Oak! grandson of the great Proffesor Oak"

Brock looked at him thoughtfully "Were you the person who challenged my gym with that squirtle, and lost?"

Gary looked taken aback "No! you must be confusing me with another worthless sap with a squirtle, mine is a healthy Wartortle that could beat you anytime!" he looked over at Ash's team who had taken to sitting by and watching "What Ash, this your team? are you so weak they don't stay in pokeballs?" he scoffed "you must be weaker then I thought then, because they look weaker then your friends!"

Charmeleon's fire flared "I'LL KILL HIM!"

Wartortle pulled him back "Woah now, If I learned anything in my gang, its that you always kill a hit while they're sleeping"

Charmeleon looked back at him angrily "He called us weak! and Ash, plus Brock and Misty are some of the only nice humans and he's insulting them"

Wartortle nodded "and thats why we get him in the night"

Ash looked over at them "no killing!" he paused "or at least wait a week so it isn't easy to trace"

"What Ash, talking to your weakling friends? I bet you can't even dig up fossils properly look!" he pulled out a small heart shaped scale "A genuine fossil!"

Brock looked at it "that's a heart scale, they're everywhere"

Gary looked down at it, then up at Brock "lies!" he cried and went back to his spot digging

as our group of heroes was about to start digging a explosion rocked the canyon "did you hear that?" Brock asked looking around, then the floor collapsed underneath them

Team Rocket meanwhile watched in shock, intending to only cause minor destruction and grab some fossils they had accidentally caused the twerps to fall into the ground

The cave was dark, pitch black. And then Ash opened his eyes, he looked around the cave for Brock, Misty and his pokemon they were all around him

"Just to make sure I understand what just happened" Misty said "the ground just collapsed and we are in a cave?"

"I think so" Brock clarified "Ash? You have Pidgeotto with you right?" Pidgeotto in response let out a caw from on top of Ash's hat "good, I couldn't see in the dark, Pidgeotto can you help me up to the surface, then come back down for Misty and finally Ash?" Pidgeotto nodded and flew over to Brock, picking him up and taking him to the surface

Before Pidgeotto could return however a noise rang through the cave from one of the tunnels out of the main room. And then an Aerodactyl was there

Pidgeotto landed a second later looking at the ancient pokemon "oh... oh that's bad" with that she flew over and grabbed Misty with her talons "Sorry gotta go fast now"

And so Ash was left with his pokemon staring down the Aerodactyl "uhm, hello"

"Hello, you food?" it asked looking down at Ash

Ash shook his head still staring at it "no no... we taste horrible"

Aerodactyl laughed "then you weak, weak must be killed" and with that it grabbed Ash and flew out the cave

"okay I'm drawing the line there I. am. not. weak." and with that a light enveloped Charmeleon and soon revealed a newly evolved, Charizard "IMA KILL AN ANCIENT POKEMON" and with that he took off, to fight a ancient pokemon

Charizard grabbed from above and started dragging them to the ground "Pidgeotto catch me!" Ash screamed as he was dropped from the sky, and soon catched via the deus ex bird

Charizard meanwhile slammed the aerodactyl into the ground nearly knocking it out "Who's weak now?" he hissed, the group rejoined and got the rest of the pokemon out of the cave, soon leaving the canyon

"I just realised something" Brock rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "I forgot to give the fossil I found to the people there, I guess seeing a dragon fight takes your mind off things" he laughed

Misty seemed to go into shock as she heard Brock's words "oh... I also forgot to give them this" she put the egg she was carrying down and produced another one from her bag "oops"

the group laughed and continued on the road to Cinnabar Island

a few days later and the group had sat down for the night when Misty's egg she had won on the S.S. Anne started glowing, Brock seeing this hurriedly pushed Ash to the side and got out of sight himself. Ash looked at Brock annoyed "Sorry for pushing you" he whispered as Misty looked at the egg taking it out the incubator "but the trainer must be the first thing a newborn pokemon sees"

Ash nodded and looked back to the egg as Ash's pokemon retreated from sight hearing Brock. Soon the egg broke and a newborn Squirtle was seen "wow" Misty breathed

The squirtle looked at Misty and smiled before falling asleep Ash and Brock walked back into the clearing ready to talk, when Misty's over egg started glowing Brock and Ash hurriedly dived behind a bush in haste looking at Misty again to see the second egg hatch, revealing a Togepi who once again looked at Misty then fell asleep

Brock and Ash slowly crept into the clearing waiting for a third egg to hatch, one didn't and they sat down next to Misty

"Wow Misty" Brock said stunned "two egg hatches in one night, that's... interesting to say the least"

the group slept peacefully that night and set off again for Cinnabar Island... again

the group was nearing the docks of Fuschia City, and by extension the city itself when a boy with a camera around his neck approached them on a road

"excuse me? are you Ash Ketchum?" he asked Ash nodded hesitantly "Finally! you are the one with Ho-Oh correct"

"Wait how did anyone hear about that?" Brock interrupted

the boy looked at him "oh, don't worry I am the only one that knows, I am a travelling photographer see? one day I was looking in a forest for pokemon to take pictures of when I saw through the tree's you, your friend Ash and that girl" he gestured to Misty "along with Ho-Oh, so I asked my boss Professor Oak who you were and he pointed me in your direction"

Ash put his egg down and pulled out his book "so why did you want to find us? and you haven't given us your name"

the boy nodded "ah yes, sorry I am Todd Snap! and the reason I wanted to find you was I wanted to get a few pictures if you don't mind, or maybe travel with you for a while since you are on a pokemon journey right?"

Ash flipped pages "yeah we're on the way to Cinnabar now, you can travel with us if you want but sorry to dissapoint Ho-Oh only really shows up if its dangerous so we probably wont see him for a while"

Todd dismissed the problem "don't worry, I got one good shot of Ho-Oh already. It's the only one Oak has now so it's being used for the pokedex, other than that if you're heading to Cinnabar then when we're done I can loop back around to Pallette and meet with Oak"

Ash shrugged "Sure then, you can come with" and so, With Todd in tow the group set off towards Cinnabar finally reaching the docks and setting off to the island

 **MEANWHILE WITH... Mewtwo?**

The glass around Mewtwo broke, he was finally out of that cloning process "I swear to Arceus when I see him I am going to kill that llama" he looked around disinterested at the humans "well... bye" and with that he flew out the window preparing for the test on the chosen was to soon come

"Your back!" Mew shouted as they flew past Mewtwo coming to a skidding halt "finally! that was like 6 months of waiting"

Mewtwo sighed "it got so boring I started writing a novel, happy side I have ideas for the test the chosen shall do" he commented

"Good! because I have no idea what we are going to do!" Mew said happily

"if you weren't so much fun I would throw a rock at you"

 **MEANWHILE WITH OUR HEROES**

our heroes were finally on the boat to Cinnabar Island after many weeks of travel, and like 2000 words they were nearly at the site of Ash's 7th gym battle

"oh if it isn't the punk of Pallette" and Gary was there sadly, Ash turned around to see Gary a smirk on his face, Gary looked to Todd "you picked up another loser friend have w-" he saw Charizard staring him down from behind Ash "oh that weak Charmeleon evolved?"

Charizard growled "I'm going to throw him overboard in the night"

"Please don't" a voice from behind them spoke, Ash turned around to see Yellow smiling, carrying the egg she won "Howdy again Ash"

"Hey Yellow! good to see you again" Ash turned back to Charizard "please no murder, atleast where it can be traced to us"

Yellow rolled her eyes and looked at Gary "and you're insulting Ash because?"

Brock and Misty returned from below deck at this point "oh Arceus this guy again" Misty sighed

Gary laughed at Yellow "Why? Because he is weak unlike me! The pride of Pallette Gary Oak!"

Todd looked between Ash and Gary "is this a friend of your Ash?" Ash shook his head "okay, good"

"Oak? as in Blue and Samuel Oak?" Yellow asked "because if so Blue is way nicer than you"

"Blue?" Gary scoffed "that weakling couldn't even win in the pokemon league before they changed it! I can't stand to be around you weaklings anymore" and with that Gary walked off

"So Ash, Brock, Misty how have you been?" she looked to Todd "and whos this?"

"Todd Snap, I'm a pokemon photographer" Todd clarified

"And we've been doing good Yellow, I'm on the way to Cinnabar for my 7th badge" Ash said

Yellow nodded "nice, the gym leader on Cinnabar is nice, how about you Misty where's the egg you won?"

Misty looked at her confused about the first part, before nodding remembering her understanding Ash "it hatched! turns out it was a Squirtle egg, only hatched yesterday so they're sleeping in a pokeball for now"

"And I got some tips from a professional breeder so my career is looking good" Brock smiled

"That's great Brock, you'll be a great breeder" Yellow replied "When we get to Cinnabar I'll show you to the gym, he wants people to 'prove' themselves to fight him by finding his gym, only issue is less people want to come to the island because less people know of it and he's dying for a battle"

Todd laughed "that seems like a flaw in his logic, you want battles but you tell no one"

and soon the boat docked at Cinnabar and Yellow lead the group to a small hotel, however when they arrived there was two people in the hotel

"Yellow!" one of them, female, turned around to see her "its great to see you again"

Yellow smiled at the person "Green! its great to see you" she turned to the other person in the room, a man "you too Blaine"

Blaine sighed "Yellow! there are people other than you and Green here if you didn't notice, I'm trying to keep my gym a secret"

Yellow nodded "I know, I've taken them here to challenge you, at least the one in a hat" Ash raised his hand "yeah him!"

Blaine shook his head "Yellow, next time please don't do that"

Ash stepped in front of everyone with book in hand "so can I challenge you?"

Green looked him up and down "you don't look like much kid, no offense but if thats all your pokemon out do you have a fully evolved one? Blaine is pretty strong" Ash pointed outside, where Charizard was waiting not being able to fit in the door "alright, good luck kid"

Blaine looked at him "you may challenge me, follow me" with that he lead the group to the side of the volcano on the island, then he pushed a concealed button in the wall and it lowered to reveal a passage

Misty looked at him shocked "You built your gym into a volcano? I mean thought I was pushing it with the swimming pool in Cerulean"

Blaine smiled "theming is everything Misty" he turned to Ash "you will need to pick your pokemon now, the pokemon not fighting will have to watch in the heat proof rooms. Choose wisely"

Ash pulled out his book "what will the rules be?"

Blaine looked thoughtfully at Ash's team "two on two" he looked to Yellow who was looking at him suspiciously "and no, I'm not that mean to have him fight"

Ash looked at his team "Pikachu you haven't had a fight since Surge" he scanned the rest of them "Wartortle, you're the smart choice you're in" Ash flipped pages on his book "I enter Wartortle and Pikachu"

Blaine nodded "alright. good luck" and with that he lead them into the volcano. The spectators took a side passage leading to the spectating area, Todd nearly shaking from the excitement of taking pictures of a gym battle

then it turned out the arena was above lava "HOLY ARCEUS ITS HOT" Ash cried as they walked into the arena

Blaine looked at him as he took position "for this arena you must keep calm. Don't let the heat get to you, stay focused. I shall start" and with that he sent out his first pokemon, a Rhydon

"oh come on thats not even a fire type" Ash sighed "Alright Wartortle it would be dumb to not send you out here" Wartortle nodded and took position on the battlefield

"Battle begin!" Blaine called

"Wartortle your biggest advantage is speed and type so start with a quick bubble!" Wartortle nodded and dived forwards sliding on his shell firing a bubble as he went. Meanwhile in the stands Misty had released Togepi and Squirtle to watch the fight

"Rhydon use your power, shake up the arena with a stone edge! Throw him off balance" Rhydon's hand glowed in power as he struck the ground causing it to shake in a improvised earthquake throwing Wartortle off balance causing him to fall down "now hit with a drill run!" Blaine called, Rhydon's horn elongated and he charged Wartortle

"Duck and roll right!" Ash yelled not wanting a big attack to hit, Wartortle shook off his confusion at falling and rolled as instructed "now Aqua tail! then hit him in the back of the head with a Water Pulse" Wartortle jumped into the air flipping as he went, striking Rhydon in the head with his tail that exploded into water narrowly avoiding his horn, then turning in mid air falling he hit him in the neck with a ball of water, that exploded into a shower of water

Rhydon was visibly injured by this and Blaine saw it "Quickly end it with a thunder!" Rhydon's hands charged with electricity crackling with power

"Protect!" Ash yelled seeing the attack, Wartortle glowed green as a shield appeared in front of him barely blocking the Thunder "End it!" Ash yelled, Wartortles hands glowed and soon released a beam of pure ice which struck Rhydon knocking it out

"Well done Ash-" Blaine yelled before cutting himself off as a white glow encompassed Wartortle, he was evolving

Soon the glow faded and a blastoise was standing in the arena "well look at that, I'm stronger than the dragon again" Blastoise said sarcastically

"Amazingly don-" Blaine began before being cut off by another glowing light, this time from the spectators box which everyone except Yellow hurriedly ran out of as the egg she holding hatched, neither Ash nor Blaine could see the result however and when the rest of the spectators filled back into the room Brock and Yellow exchanged words before they both ran out the gym

"is that it? no more white lights?" Blaine asked looking around "good,well done Ash, but you still have to fight my second pokemon"

Ash nodded and called for Blastoise to come back, then a spurt of lava rose from the volcano, splitting to reveal a magmar ready to fight "Holy Arceus that's badass"

Blaine grinned "be prepared Ash, Magmar is my second strongest pokemon"

Ash nodded and gestured to Pikachu to get to the arena, who used a quick attack to arrive in a battle stance

"ready?" Blaine asked, Ash nodded "then let the battle begin!" Blaine laughed happily

"Alright Pikachu you've got to use speed to your advantage, if this is Blaine's second strongest we need speed, so an agility would probably help" the mouse nodded and quickly moved left and right, generating electricity to boost its speed

"Fire punch Magmar, full power" Blaine yelled his eyes focused on the battle, Magmar in the same stance eyes scanning every move as his arm lit on fire, Magmar charged forward trying to hit the mouse

"Over!" Pikachu nodded and jumped at the last moment with a burst of aerial speed "Thunder wave!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked before they let out a small jolt of electricity, not hurting but stunning the fire type

Blaine grimaced "Smoke screen give yourself cover!" Magmar shakily started releasing smoke over the arena, sometimes shaking due to the paralysis but before Ash or Pikachu could move neither could see anything "now fire blast!"

Ash smiled, they had trained for this "Remember our training to hit something you can't see, Discharge!" the mouse let out all his electricity in a jolt, dissipating the smoke and revealing Magmar standing there Paralyzed "Now!" Pikachu nodded seeing his target, before releasing a powerful Thunderbolt sending the fire type back, but not out

Blaine frowned "Paralysis damn them, now fire blast!" Magmar smiled an evil smile sending a blast of intense heat towards the mouse, who was next to the edge of the arena

"Agility! Move towards it and duck under!" Ash desperately called not wanting his friend to be hit with the fire blast's power, the mouse eye'd the fire carefully before at the last moment with a burst of speed and in a split second he was next to Magmar "now finish it Thunderbolt full power" The mouse looked at the fire giant smiling, before releasing the intense burst of lightning. Sending the fire type on his back, knocking it out

Blaine laughed happily "Amazingly done Ash! You have earned the seventh badge of Kanto, the Volcano Badge" he walked across the arena and gave Ash a badge in the shape of fire "May I recommend you head to the Viridian Gym next, its the hardest in Kanto and you deserve a challenge" Ash nodded considering his request "Good, now lets get out of this heat"

Ash and Blaine left the gym to see Yellow and Brock outside, looking panicked around a small, white, Vulpix. Soon they were followed by the spectators in the gym looking equally panicked

"Yellow what happened?" Ash asked seeing the Vulpix asleep

"the egg!" She cried distressed "It was an ice type Vulpix, being hatched in the heat may have given it an illness so we're checking, we don't know if its okay or not!"

Ash's face turned to one of worry "what can we do to help?"

Yellow relayed the question to Brock who looked around at Ash and his friends "Ash you and your pokemon need to go get water from the ocean, make sure its cold, Blastoise ice beam should help" Ash nodded and ran for the ocean "Misty Todd can you go get a Nurse Joy from the centre on the island, tell her its an emergency" they nodded and ran themselves "Blaine, Green, can you help me cool it down with some wet towels?" the two nodded and started doing there job

Soon everyone returned, Todd and Misty with a Nurse Joy, Ash with lots of cold water in buckets and Blaine helping the Nurse checking Vulpix

"good news" the Nurse grinned "Vulpix is okay, it's a good thing you got it out of that heat or we would have a different matter on our hands good job"

"Thank you Nurse Joy! Now if you would be so kind to tak-" Brock was cut off as Misty tripped him as he attempted to flirt with the Nurse "take.. me to the hospital" he sighed defeated, Ash picked Brock up as the Nurse left "Blaine!" Brock said as he remembered something "you still have the machine to revive fossils right?"

Blaine nodded "I do, why so Brock, another fossil for your gym?"

Brock shrugged "Something like that" he pulled out a small yellow rock of clear amber, with a mosquito in the middle "I found this whilst in a dig site two weeks ago, I was wondering if you could revive it for me"

Blaine's eyes shined "I haven't seen one of these since Red was here, this my friend is an old amber. You know the Aerodactyl Red and the champion have?" Brock nodded "This, this turns into an Aerodactyl"

Green nearly choked on the air "you mean, Brock can own an Aerodactyl?"

Blaine nodded as Brock stared at the amber "wow, thats amazing!" Brock laughed "can you revive it?"

"Easily Brock, easily" and so Brock and Blaine went back into the volcano, coming back out ten minutes later with Brock clutching a new pokeball, and so with the days events over, Brock with a new pokemon and Yellow and Green staying on Cinnabar for a while the group of four and many pokemon set out. for Ash's last Kanto badge

* * *

Seven down. only one more until the main event... but before that we need one last badge. anywhozits next chapter gonna be short. as in I'm going to have to do a few episodes that happen after Ash gets the badge just so it hits a thousand words short, but for now please review follow whatever you want. Hell if you wanna insult me go ahead, I'm sure it will help somehow


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Corner: here we go last gym badge and we're nearing the end of Kanto because of that... GET HYPPPPPPPPPPPPPE... or not its up to you, so there's going to be a few bits of filler since if there wasn't it would be very VERY quick since we would go straight to... spoilers

* * *

With our group of heroes and Todd on the way to the site of Ash's last gym badge the boat they were on couldn't go quicker and so our heroes took the afternoon off as they approached the Pallette town docks

"Oh look the mute's here" oh arceus why Ash turned around to see Gary Oak standing behind him "What couldn't get a battle on Cinnabar? of course you couldn't there's no gym!"

Ash in turn took out his badge case and book before pointing to the Cinnabar Island gym badge

Gary stared at the badge in shock "but there's no gym there! unless..." he looked up angrily "BLUE I WILL END YOU" he screamed at the ocean

meanwhile Blue looked around at the ocean "what in the distortion world was that?"

Back with Ash Gary had left looking very annoyed

"good to see he didn't fight Blaine" Ash commented looking at the spot Gary was standing on

Blastoise laughed "the kid would've lost anyway, that Rhydon would make a great intimidator in my old gang"

Ivysaur sighed "except the fact that he's not a squirtle, and neither are you anymore"

Blastoise dismissed this point with a wave of a hand? Claw?

"Hey Ash!" Brock called from behind Ash as he and Misty arrived back on deck the latter carrying Togepi with Squirtle on her shoulder "we're nearing Pallette, decided where your next gym is?"

Ash nodded and pulled out a map before pointing to Viridian City

Misty looked at Ash hesitantly "I don't know Ash, Viridian Gym is the strongest in Kanto you could always go to one of the smaller ones around the region"

Ash nodded and flipped pages in his book "I know, Blaine recommend I fight it for a challenge"

Brock nodded "I can see that you need one you haven't lost a gym fight yet, don't get cocky though Ash the leader of Viridian is tough"

Charizard rolled his eyes "please we can take him how hard can the leader of one of the smallest cities in the region do?"

"Lots probably all the gym leaders use different teams depending on how many badges someone has, we haven't had a chance to fight anyone's strongest team" Ivysaur reminded him

"My gang had a saying, if you not sure you can win. Make sure you can't lose" Blastoise said with a nod

"That makes literally no sense, if you can't lose you have to win" Clefairy pointed out

"All passengers for Pallette please make way to north of the boat" a voice called out from the speaker system called out

"Thats our stop" Ash said gesturing to Brock and Misty to follow

Soon out group of heroes had arrived on the dock being a small town very few people got off and soon after a small talk they were headed in the direction of Professor Oak's lab

the group arrived and Brock knocked on the door as the other two were carrying pokemon and eggs. soon the door was flung open revealing the professor

"Ah Brock it's good to see you again!" he looked at Misty and Ash "And I see you've bought Misty and Ash" Ash waved "Good to see you all come in come in"

the group walked in to the lab to see an older looking Gary sitting down

"So gramps who is it?" he looked over to see Brock, Misty and Ash "good to see you two again, who's the new kid?"

"He's one of the trainers from this year, the one we were just talking about" Oak clarified turning to Ash "Ash this is Blue, Gary's brother"

Blue looked at Ash "So you're the kid that left with a Pikachu and ended up with all three of the Kanto starters, good job" Ash put his egg down on the table and sat down "so how many badges you got?" Ash held up seven fingers "good job Gary's only got six. Do me a favour and get further than him in the Indigo League he needs to be knocked down a few pegs he's worse than I was"

"We're heading to Viridian Gym next" Misty said with a smile

meanwhile Oak was looking at the egg on the table confused "Ash where did you get this egg?"

Ash picked his book up and flipped pages "S.S. Anne"

Oak nodded "interesting, Ash do you want to swap your pokemon before you go?"

Pidgeotto tapped Ash on the shoulder "I would like to swap with Butterfree if he's okay with it" Ash nodded and pointed to Pidgeotto

"Alright I'll go get Butterfree for you Ash" Oak said before walking off to the forest to get Butterfree

"So you know who the Viridian gym leader is?" Blue asked, Ash shook his head "Well good luck against him he's real strong" Blue looked at the clock on the wall "Man I gotta go. Tell Gramps I've left when he gets back"

"See you Blue, good to see you again" Brock said putting his hand out for a handshake

"You too Brock" Blue said with a smile accepting the handshake before walking out the door

the Professor returned soon with Butterfree on his shoulder, who quickly switched places with Pidgeotto

"Here's the pokeball Ash" Oak said giving Ash a pokeball who in turn gave him Pidgeotto "Good to see you Ash, I'll tell your mother you were here"

"By the way Blue said he had to left" Said Todd who even the writer forgot was there "And I got some photo's for you boss!"

"Ah Todd good! come with me we'll have a look at them" Oak said with a smile

Todd nodded and turned back to Ash and his friends "I guess I'll see you again at the league good luck with your gym badge!"

and with that our group of heroes minus Todd set out for Viridian City, which was a single route away so it took about 10 minutes to get there with the lack of bird flock

"Here we are" Ash sighed "weird to think the first city we ever came to had a gym we missed, don't know how we didn't see it"

Pikachu shrugged "in your defence I was dying"

and than Gary ran out the gym looking mad

"I'm going to kick his ass next time" he muttered "You" he pointed at Ash "you have no chance against the leader if I can't beat him give up"

Ash rolled his eyes and pushed past Gary into the gym which was pure black, then a spotlight came on shining on the gym leader

"Welcome Ketchum!" Blue called "You're here to fight me for my badge right?"

Ash looked at him hesitantly then put the egg he won down and took his book out "You're the gym leader?"

"Yup Ash, Blue's the gym leader" Misty relented "The most cocky one in the region anyway"

Blue looked at her "you know Surge exists right?" he looked back at Ash "that's not important Ash send out your first pokemon this will be a six on six battle. Referees are bad so we don't use em here" Blue said throwing out his first pokeball revealing an Exeggutor

Ash looked at his team "Charizard you ready for a fight?"

Charizard scoffed "course I am" and with that he flew onto the field prepared to fight

"Begin!" Blue called "Trick room!" with that Exeggutor's eyes glowed before the room seemed to shift around making Charizard visibly slower

Ash gritted his teeth "You're gonna have to deal with less speed, try to make up for it with power grab him into a firefang!" Charizard nodded and dashed at Exeggutor slowly but still managing to grab him and bite him with his teeth on fire before dropping him to the ground

"Hypnosis Exeggutor!" Blue called out before Exeggutor's eyes glowed again releasing a yellow pulse aimed at Charizard

"Up Charizard!" Charizard took off straight to the air barely dodging the attack "Fly towards him while using flamethrower!" Charizard dived towards Exeggutor his mouth flaming with a flamethrower as he got closer hitting Exeggutor "slash!" Charizard's claws glowed as he approached Exeggutor before hitting him with the attack knocking Exeggutor back

"Psychic!" Blue called, Exeggutor's eyes once again glowed blue before Charizard was hit by the near invisible attack

"Finish it quickly Firefang!" Ash called seeing Charizard damaged, Charizard once again dived forwards biting down onto Exeggutor his mouth alight with flames Exeggutor was flung backwards knocked out

"good job Ash" Blue yelled across the arena returning his pokemon "one down five to go" he threw his next pokeball revealing a Gyarados "you can change pokemon if you want"

Ash nodded and called Charizard back "Pikachu this should be simple for you, just make sure to avoid attacks" Pikachu nodded and dashed to the arena slowing as he hit it because of the trick room's effect

"Begin!" Blue yelled again "Dragon Dance" Gyarados did an odd dance hyping himself up, because in all reality his stats never raised he just got more excited to hit Pikachu and in turn got stronger

"Double team try to wait out the trick room" Pikachu rapidly moved creating multiple illusions of himself

"Waterfall hit as many as possible" Blue said with a smirk Gyarados dived into the air before crashing back down releasing water in every direction hitting Pikachu, but then the trick room disappeared

"now discharge!" Ash yelled seeing the room back to normal Pikachu rushed forwards and released... well to say lots of electricity would be a understatement. Gyarados was knocked out and Pikachu was too tired to keep fighting barely running back to Ash's side of the arena

"Well done" Blue said recalling his second pokemon "ready for round three?" Ash nodded "good!" and with that he sent out his third pokemon, a Machamp

Butterfree tapped Ash on the shoulder "may I? I've been training at Oak's" Ash nodded and Butterfree to his place on the arena

"Begin!" Blue yelled

"Don't let him hit first, Poison powder!" Ash yelled quickly, Butterfree flew high into the air and let a purple powder out of his wings hitting Machamp poisoning him

"Rock throw!" Blue yelled Machamp in turn picked up a large rock and tossed it at Butterfree clipping his wing

"Air slash" Butterfree flapped his wings hard before a jet of harsh air collided with Machamp "finish it with Psybeam" Butterfree's eyes glowed blue before a beam of purple light was released from there eyes hitting Machamp knocking him out

Butterfree flew slowly back to Ash before passing out on the floor from exhaustion

"well done both our pokemon have fainted its time for round four" Blue recalled Machamp and threw his next pokeball revealing a Rhydon

"Ivysaur you up for fighting this one?" Ash asked, Ivysaur nodded and made his way to the arena to fight

"Begin!" Blue called for the fourth time, because he didn't have anything else to say

"Leach seed!" Ash called, Ivysaur nodded and let a few seeds from the flower on his back which landed on Rhydon growing into vines that started draining his energy and giving it to Ivysaur

"Mega Horn!" Blue yelled, Rhydon's horn grew and glowed green before he charged Ivysaur hitting him and throwing him back

"Take down knock them down!" Ash yelled, Ivysaur charged at Rhydon quickly knocking him onto his back while Bulbasaur recoiled at charging a rock monster at top speed "start charging a Solar Beam quickly" Ivysaur moved towards one of the windows and started drinking in the sunlight, by the time Rhydon was back on his feet it was charged. And Rhydon was back down knocked out

then a bright light shone over Ivysaur "nopenopenope" Ivysaur yelled holding the evolution back before stumbling over to Ash "We're getting an everstone later for me"

"you're on a winning streak Ash, and I intend to end it" Blue recalled his pokemon looking annoyed before throwing out his fifth pokeball revealing a Charizard

Blastoise scoffed "if you don't chose me Ash this would be dumb" Ash nodded and gestured for Blastoise to get to the arena

"Begin" Blue yelled "Fire spin quick" Blue's Charizard's tail flame grew bigger before a circle formed above it landing around Blastoise trapping him "now slash!" Charizard dashed forwards claws glowing

"Wait for him to get close than grab him" Blastoise nodded and when Charizard got close he grabbed his arm and tossed him over his head, however Charizard's claws caught Blastoise across the face hurting him "Water Pulse"

Water formed in Blastoise's hands prepared to fire at Charizard

"Dragon Rage!" Blue yelled desperately, the water pulse fired at the same time as Dragon Rage. The two attacks went past each other and hit there targets with an explosion

when the dust settled both pokemon were knocked out

"finally" Blue sighed as he recalled Charizard, Ash did the same with Blastoise grimacing at the pokeball "its time for my final pokemon Ash you ready?" Ash nodded and Blue threw his last pokeball revealing a Pidgeot

"let me" Clefairy said taking position "It's time to test if I am ready to evolve" Ash nodded and Clefairy ran to the arena "don't give me directions Ash I need to test myself" Ash nodded again and watched

"begin" Blue called "Whirlwind" Pidgeot's wings flapped releasing a strong miniature tornado heading for Clefairy, who dodged to the left before putting there hands together crackling with electricity which they sent towards Pidgeot making it fall to the ground

"Mirror Move!" Blue yelled, Pidgeot nodded and started glowing before the electricity appeared again around Pidgeot and was sent towards Clefairy who was pushed back by the electricity. Clefairy responded by moving her claw back and forth for a metronome

then time split in half as Clefairy yelled. Roar of time had happened, it was fairly unneeded to say but Pidgeot was out cold

Blue recalled Pidgeot smiling "amazingly done Ash" he walked over to Ash's side of the field badge in hand "you've won the Earth Badge" Blue handed Ash a badge in the shape of a tree with a golden trim "you probably noticed the golden trim, whenever you beat a leaders hardest team you are given these 'gilded badges' as we called them, for everyone you get you double your maximum pokemon hold so you can now carry 12 pokemon"

Ash nodded at the sheer plot convenience of this

"Ash Ketchum as leader of the Viridian City Gym I congratulate you on earning eight Kanto badges. You may now enter the Indigo League"

Brock clapped Ash on the back "good job Ash, it's three weeks til the league you should probably get training"

Misty sighed "or you could heal your pokemon, they got pretty beat up there"

And so Ash and his friends set out for training in the next weeks before the pokemon league. But first there was one thing left

 **MEANWHILE WITH MEWTWO**

Mewtwo pondered over his notes, the script for his and Mew's test for the chosen had to be perfect... that or he was really overthinking things

"so how's it going 'Two?" Mew asked looking down at the notes

Mewtwo looked at Mew "perfect. He's got eight Kanto Badges"

"And that means?"

"that means Mew, that means its time"

* * *

And thus Ash's got eight badges yaaaaaaaaaaaay party time lads! the league is soon but Mewtwo is sooner so next time instead of the league we're doing the first pokemon movie. I'm excited are you excited? I don't know I'm not a mind reader but hopefully next chapter will live up to the imaginary hype I have for it! please Review Rate whatever it is you do I'm just a weird guy posting stuff on the internet... welp next time I guess


	9. Chapter 9

Authors Corner: ANNND ITS TIME FOR THE MAAAIIIINNN EVENT... or just the first movie one of those two I lose track, mainly because this is the last part of Kanto before we get to the league and that league is going to be lotsa battles in a row so this is probably the first time we're having a chapter without a battle! probably... I write this before I write the rest of the chapter and I write in improv so you know...

* * *

With a week and a half left until the Indigo League Ash and his full team were training in the fields behind Professor Oak's lab, Brock and Misty had been coming and going over the days this was one of the rare days where all three of them were there taking a break from training

"So Ash how's training been?" Misty asked who had recently taken to carrying Togepi and Squirtle everywhere instead of in their pokeballs

Ash sat down around the table Brock had set up while cooking and took his book out "good I think we have a decent chance of making it through the preliminaries, how about you and Brock?"

Brock sat down passing food around to all the pokemon and humans before looking at Ash's book "I've been doing good, working towards getting an official breeder's license"

"And I've been teaching Togepi and Squirtle about the world, plus I caught a Gyarados and a Seel" Misty said as Togepi trilled in her arms

"mom is a good teacher!" Togepi said happily before starting to eat her food, Squirtle nodded in agreement

Pikachu looked at Togepi a smile on his face "you listen to her, we don't want you getting in danger Togepi" he sighed remembering the instance a few days ago where Togepi had ran off into the fields alone

Clefairy meanwhile was deep in thought instead of eating "Hey Ash can we head to Mt Moon in a few days I need to see if I'm ready and the next festival for the moonstone is soon"

Ash nodded "of course you can leave whenever you want w-" Ash was cut off by a Dragonite, this Dragonite that flew across the table they were eating on knocking it over

"You are the chosen?" it asked landing next to Ash

Ash shrugged "I keep being told I am but I don't know what it really means"

Dragonite reached into a bag it was keeping around its shoulder and pulled a letter out "For you" he said handing it to Ash

Ash scanned the letter it was a simple invitation to a tournament being held on a island that could be reached from the pier of Pallette, he showed it to Brock and Misty

Brock looked at it "looks interesting, says you can bring two people along so if you want I'll come with you"

Misty nodded "I'm all for it if you are"

Ash looked at the letter and handed it back to Dragonite "I will be coming, when is it?"

Dragonite put the letter back in his bag "Today, the boat leaves in an hour" and with that he took off, past everyone's favourite Team Rocket grunts who were listening to the whole conversation thanks to Meowth

"the dragon said the hat twerp is somethin called the chosen!" Meowth said surprised

Jessie waved him off "I don't care if he's Arceus himself what else?"

"Apparently there's a tournament on a island near Pallette that the twerps been invited ta" Meowth replied

James grinned "well if there's a tournament there's got to be prizes right? lets go!"

meanwhile Ash, Misty and Brock had packed up ready to set off for the pier, by the time they arrived though a storm had formed, Ash scanned the crowd on the docks. Lots of trainers too many to count meanwhile the captain of the ship prepared to take everyone to the island had walked out onto the docks

"We can't allow any of you to leave, the storm is too strong" the captain said as the trainers looked at her in disbelief "the Nurse Joy of Pallette has gone missing if your pokemon get injured they can't be healed" the group sighed and slowly started funneling out the docks, meanwhile Ash had gestured to Brock and Misty to follow him

"what are you going to do Ash? we can't take a boat" Misty said trying to cover Togepi from the rain while Squirtle seemed to be enjoying it

Ash in response took the bell Ho-Oh had given him out of his bag and rung it, so skipping all the fanfare Ho-Oh was now there

"you called chosen?" Ho-Oh asked landing

"yes, we've been invited to a tournament on an island south of here, the boats are out of commision because of the storm can you take us there?" Ash asked shielding himself from the rain with his coat

"of course, climb on" Ho-Oh nodded leaning down, Ash climbed on with his pokemon and gestured for Brock and Misty to climb on, which they did quickly and soon they were in the air

Soon they had arrived on the island, Ho-Oh took off again in a hurry and our heroes were greeted by a poorly disguised Nurse Joy

"Welcome, my master was expecting you" she spoke with a blank expression on her face, like someone reading this "come in" the Nurse gestured our heroes into a massive castle that everyone had somehow missed

Ash walked in to see the main room of the castle, a giant room with a table in the middle and many chairs around it, only one occupied by Blue

"Ash you were invited? I thought it was only the best trainers were invited" he said with a smirk "eh I'm just messing with ya, you flew here to?"

at that point the door opened again and Yellow walked in, soaking wet with a Butterfree on her back which she returned when she walked in

"Hey Blue! same to you Ash" she said taking a seat at the table taking off her hat and shaking water out of her hair

"Yellow good to see you again" Brock said sitting down himself next to Misty and Ash

the door opened again before anyone could speak revealing Green, who simply nodded at everyone in the room before sitting

Blue looked at everyone in the room "bets Red is going to show up?

Green yawned "10 bucks" she said looking over at him

Misty looked at the table "how many people do you think are going to show up anyway?"

Yellow looked at the table and shrugged "an amount"

Ash laughed "oh gee thanks Yellow I thought no one would show up"

then the door opened again, everyone turned to it and... it was just a trainer in a blue shirt of no importance who sat down looking like he swam the way there, which he infact did

"you owe me 10 bucks Green" Blue said

Green waved him off "later"

and so finally the door opened revealing a trainer in a red coat with a hat over black messy hair, and a dumb dumb smile on his face, Red

"Hey everyone!" he said coming in to sit down "Blue, Green, Yellow" he said nodding to them before looking at Ash and the other trainer "and you two are?"

"the one with all his pokemon around him is Ash, he's a mute" Yellow said

Green punched Blue "and you owe me 10 bucks Blue"

Red sat down and nearly fell of his chair in the process before looking to the blue shirted trainer "and you? can you speak?"

the blue shirted trainer laughed "I am the greatest trainer of this generation I am Dario!"

Blue nodded "cocky got it"

the extremely poorly disguised Nurse Joy came into the room closing the doors "all trainers are here my master will arrive soon"

Ash looked at the table confused "there's still five seats left how do we know no more trainers will arrive?"

The Nurse looked at him "my master has made sure no more trainers arrive chosen" Ash fell backwards out of his chair in shock of the Nurse understanding him

Brock stood up and helped Ash back up to his feet, Ash in turn looked at the Nurse "who is your master"

"I am" a voice spoke in everyone's head, except for Ash's everyone in turn looked around for the source of the voice. Except for Ash who was still confused about everyone being confused

"Better chosen?" the voice said again, this time in Ash's head causing him to once again fall off his chair

Ash sighed on the floor "if this becomes a thing this chapter I swear to Arceus"

then the cause of the voice floated down from the ceiling, Mewtwo

Yellow looked at Mewtwo confused "Mewtwo what are you doing here? and where's Blaine?"

Mewtwo glared at Yellow "silly fool, I am not the Mewtwo you know. I am the perfect clone of Mew and the strongest trainer in Kanto"

Ash climbed to his feet and sat back down on his chair "and the reason for inviting us here was?"

"the reason? well I wanted you here for a tournament, you will all fight me and my clone pokemon. If no one can defeat me I will take over the world" Mewtwo said

Pikachu sighed from his spot on the table "Am I the only one here confused about what's going on? I mean what's with the storm, where are the other trainers and why in the distortion world is this Dario bloke here?"

Dario stood up and pointed at Mewtwo "Pokemon can't be trainers, and I am the best here anyway!"

Ash shifted in his seat "yeah... no pokemon have ever been trainers, right Yellow?"

Yellow nodded hurriedly "yes! but that doesn't mean pokemon can't be trainers" she laughed nervously

Mewtwo looked at Dario annoyed "you say no pokemon can become a trainer? and that you are the strongest?"

Dario nodded "I am! and pokemon can't be trainers" and with that he disappeared into thin air

"and that" Mewtwo said his eyes glowing "is what will happen if anyone questions me"

Green looked at the spot Dario was standing at a second ago horrified "you killed him?"

Mewtwo looked at her shocked "no Arceus no I want to take over the world not kill everyone who do you take me for a monster? I just teleported him off the island and wiped his memory, jeez"

Charizard sighed "should've killed him, dude was kinda the worst"

Mewtwo shrugged "others would disapprove of it"

Brock sighed "I feel that we're missing out on an interesting conversation"

"oh that reminds me" Mewtwo sighed before waving his hand causing the Nurse to faint Brock rushed over to catch her

Red looked around "so um, tournament? ' the tournament is the only reason I'm here"

Mewtwo nodded "of course follow" and with that he leaded everyone to a battlefield "three of you shall fight choose among yourselves"

Yellow immediately sat down at one of the stands around the arena "I hate fighting, and I can't risk letting Pix getting hurt"

Ash looked at her "Pix?"

Yellow nodded "the Vulpix that hatched on Cinnabar"

Brock sat down next to her "my strongest team is at the gym I don't stand a chance"

Green sat down as well "I'm not suited for battling, Ash should fight though, his fight against Blaine was great"

Misty sat down "and I can't risk letting Togepi and Squirtle getting hurt" and thus the three to fight Mewtwo were Ash, Blue and Red

"you have decided" Mewtwo asked from his side of the battlefield, the group nodded "good, you may use one pokemon each. The one with black hair may fight me first" Ash pointed at himself "no the one named after a colour" and with that Red took position on his side of the field

Mewtwo levitated a pokeball forcing it to release, revealing a Venusaur with black markings on its face. Red in turn studied the pokemon carefully before reaching for a pokeball on his belt throwing it to reveal a Aerodactyl

"you may begin" Mewtwo said as Blue and Ash sat down at a nearby table

"Aero fly!" Red called

Ash pulled his book out his bag and flipped pages before showing it to Blue "Aero?"

Blue nodded "Red nicknames all his pokemon, same with Yellow" Ash nodded and turned back to the fight

Venusaur's vines grabbed Aerodactyl's wings as it took off, before slamming it to the ground then the tree on its back began glowing. Before Aerodactyl could get up a solar beam slammed into it knocking it out

the room was silent as everyone stared in silence, the silence was broken by Blue "oh shit"

Mewtwo eyed the downed pokemon before levitating a black pokeball and throwing it at it capturing an already captured pokemon

"what in the distortion world!" Red yelled "how why what!"

"simple" Mewtwo said "I captured your pokemon like a trainer, they will be cloned and their clone will be the perfect pokemon" he levitated the pokeballs of Red's belt "same with the rest of your pokemon" he then captured them all

Pidgeotto looked around in shock "did he just put a pokeball in a pokeball"

Ash nodded "yes, yes he did"

"and he knows your a pokemon probably" Butterfree pointed out

Ash grimaced "we may be doomed"

Mewtwo waved his hand "do not worry, I will let the pokemon go. Humans on the other hand"

Green looked at him scared "you're going to kill us!"

Mewtwo looked at her "we've been over this no! I was going to make you work as soldiers for me for Arceus sake"

Blue pointed at Mewtwo dramatically, for no good reason "who's next"

Mewtwo looked at Blue disinterested as Red walked to the table the three competitors had been sitting around "you then Blue"

Blue took his position on his side of the arena

meanwhile Team Rocket had arrived on the island and were currently in the process of investigating it

"What is this prize anyway?" James asked as they walked through a small forest "and isn't it more likely for it to be in the massive castle?"

Jessie waved him off "that's what they want us to think the prize must be out here!"

the trio of bad criminals continued around the island doing basically nothing for the next five hundred words

Mewtwo meanwhile had sent out a charizard with black markings around its eyes, Blue in response sent out a Golduck to fight the fire type

"you may begin" Mewtwo said with his telepathy

"Begin with a confusion hold him in place" Blue yelled, Golduck's eyes glowed blue and a blue aura surrounded Charizard keeping him in place "now surf" a wave of water appeared behind surging forwards crashing into Charizard

"now we can't have that" Mewtwo said lazily his eyes glowing stopping the hold on Charizard

Misty groaned "that can't be allowed"

Brock shrugged "it's not against the rules I think"

Mewtwo's Charizard dashed forwards claws glowing purple

"that's a dragon claw" Pidgeotto commented as Charizard hit Golduck "and thats painful"

Golduck was knocked out and soon captured by Mewtwo along with the rest of Blue's pokemon as Blue walked back to the table "Ash this is down to you"

Mewtwo smiled "you're up chosen"

Red leaned over to Blue "what does he mean by chosen" Blue shrugged and turned back to watching the field as Ash took his position

Pikachu smiled "don't worry Ash chances are that he's going to use a Blastoise we've got this"

Mewtwo lifted a pokeball and released it revealing... a Pikachu with the black colour on its ears spiking downwards

"you were saying" Ash sighed looking at his opponent he looked at his team "we don't have anything to contour electricity this is bad"

Pikachu jumped onto the field "let me try atleast"

Mewtwo laughed "what chosen not using your faithful bird of Johto?"

Ash rolled his eyes "can't risk having Ho-Oh cloned"

Yellow seemed to choke on the air "Ho-Oh!"

Misty waved her off "we'll explain later"

"you may begin" Mewtwo said

"alright chances are he's got lightning rod, use lightscreen!" Ash yelled, Pikachu raised a paw in front of himself creating a small barrier

soon after Mewtwo's Pikachu charged forward aiming for Ash's Pikachu

"left!" Ash yelled Pikachu rolled to the left but Mewtwo's Pikachu adjusted and hit him backwards "slam!" Ash's Pikachu charged forwards into Mewtwo's Pikachu sending it backwards, the two traded blows back and forth for a few minutes but soon Ash's Pikachu was knocked out and captured with the rest of Ash's pokemon

"What now chosen?" Mewtwo said mockingly "what will you do without your friends?"

Ash stared at him "what will I do?" he laughed "I'LL FIGHT YOU MYSELF" and with that Ash stupidly charged forward to punch Mewtwo, like an idiot. Before he could hit him Mewtwo sent him back with his psychic powers into the stands where Brock tried to catch him, sending both of them down the stands into a wall

the room went silent as everyone but Yellow looked at Ash in shock, Brock had caught him but it had hurt him bad. Bad enough to drop the illusion

"Ash?" Brock said looking at the small fox he had caught next to him

Ash nodded then looked down at himself in shock "oh crap" he redid the illusion and helped Brock up "Yellow explain I'm going to give that one a take two, I think I was close last time"

Yellow ran down the stands and stopped him "you can't you'll get murdered against him"

Ash waved her off prepared to run, then he got hit by one of Mewtwo's pokeballs

Ash's bag dropped to the ground with a clutter and the room was left with silence, Mewtwo had won

or not since you know the hero has to win, everyone had been cloned and were now trapped in a prison to be released when Mewtwo had made sure there was nothing left to stop him

then everyone's at least fourth favourite Kanto legendary teleported into the room

"greetings chosen!" Mew said as looked around the prison "I'm here to save the day"

Blue's Golduck looked at Mew confused "you're here to save us? And you're Mew?

Mew nodded "yes its not that complicated, now be prepared teleportation is confusing at first"

Clefairy looked at Mew "teleport what?" and then everyone was teleported to outside the castle

Meanwhile Team Rocket had made their way into the castle and done pretty much nothing this entire chapter

Ash looked around at the castle before walking towards it

"Ash what're you doing?" asked Butterfree

Ash turned to him and the rest of the pokemon "we're going in there and we're going to stop Mewtwo with all of us we can overwhelm him we have to!" and with that Ash kicked open the doors to the castle, which was a lot harder than you would think since they were giant doors

the room was a sight to see, all the humans gathered around a table all lost hope, Mewtwo standing with an army of cloned pokemon around him and a clone of Ash standing next to him, and finally Team Rocket being held down by the clones. Ash on the other side of the room doors opened surrounded by pokemon with Mew floating next to him

"Ash!" Green yelled looking at him

"Impossible" Mewtwo said looking at the group "how?"

"Simple" Ash said "you forgot how stubborn a group of pokemon can be" he looked opened his bag that had been returned in the prison taking a smaller bag out of it and then a bell out of that bag ringing it "and now we have cavalry"

Mewtwo looked at his army "attack them!" each side jumped into action a collision of power on each side. Every pokemon fighting their clone

Ho-Oh landed in front of Ash who was running for cover from the miniature war around him and looked around "what in the distortion world is going on"

"Closest thing we've got to a war" Ash said looking around "I need you to go and be a peacemaker its really obvious neither side wants to fight" Ho-Oh nodded and started flying around the room trying to stop fights much to the surprise of most of the humans

Ash turned around with a sigh and was face to face with his clone "uh hi" Ash said

His clone waved back "hey, me so we have to fight? Cause I really don't want to fight"

Ash shook his head and sat down "we shouldn't have to fight, why is Mewtwo doing any of this anyway?"

His clone sat next to him "from the short briefing I was given he was a clone of Mew made by humans, apparently they wanted to use him as a tool so he resents humans and wants to prove he's stronger than Mew"

The humans in the room ran over to where Ash and his clone were sitting since it was one of the few places pokemon weren't fighting at

Misty looked between the two Ash's confused "which one of you do I know?" Ash raised his hand and received a nod "well it's nice to meet you other Ash. Oh yeah and Ash when we're off this island if you don't explain the pokemon thing not even Arceus will be able to save you" Ash nodded and turned back to looking over the war scene

The room was a massacre. Nearly all the clones had already finished there battles and were standing over the downed form of there opponents, Ho-Oh had been unsuccessful in most attempts to quell the fighting with only one or two pairs talking everything out, Team Rocket were cowering for cover on the other side of the room

Oddly though Pidgeotto seemed to be putting up the best fight against her clone which Ash thought was odd until a white light enveloped her, it soon faded revealing a Pidgeot who soon felled its clone

"Oh good for her I wonder what evolution is like" Ash's clone commented watching it happen Pidgeotto fell from the sky with a pain causing both the Zorua's to wince "and that's going to hurt"

Soon the room was nearly silent all battles had ended... all but one, Mewtwo and Mew were still fighting every pokemon and human watched in silence as both pokemon descended to the centre of the arena and moved back glowing with energy

Ash was the first to see what was going to happen, there would a be a clash of energy and one of the duo would end up dead. So Ash did the only thing dumb people do to stop conflicts

"Stop!" He yelled running between the two as the beams fired "I did not think this one through" was all Ash could say before they both hit him dead on, a flash of light lit up the room and when it faded Ash illusion dropped was on the ground turned to stone... somehow

"Oh sweet Arceus no" Mewtwo said staring at the scene, this was not in the script

"Ash!" Pikachu yelled seeing his trainer dead on the ground,Pikachu ran over to him "come on Ash wake up" he said shaking him lightly

Ash's over pokemon gathered around Ash, along with Ash's clones as the humans watched in shock, except for Team Rocket who were quickly trying to figure out that Ash was a pokemon

"Wake up Ash" whispered Pikachu as the other pokemon watched "please" he said shocking the statue of Ash lightly "please" another shock "please..." a last shock

Ash's clone dropped his illusion, revealing the difference between the two being a red circle around his eyes and ran next to Ash "come one you can't die like this, your the original your the best... your the chosen one"

Ash's other pokemon tried similar worked Ash was dead

"Why" Pikachu said tears appearing at the corner of his eyes "why" a tear fell on Ash as Pikachu had broken down, soon followed by Ash's other pokemon and soon every pokemon barring Mewtwo and Mew were crying at the death of the chosen

And somehow these tears brought Ash back to life. The statue slowly started crumbling and soon it was gone leaving just Ash who yawned and looked around

"What just happened and why does physically everything hurt" he said with a groan

Everyone in the room was confused. Even me and I'm writing this

"Ash?" Pikachu asked looking at him "you are real right? I haven't just gone insane and am seeing hallucinations right?"

Ash laughed "no your sane so uh what happened? Since I feel like I just died and came back to life"

Pidgeot nodded looking at Ash "you just died and came back to life, pretty much all of us are confused and in shock"

Mewtwo hovered over to the group causing Ash to flinch "Ash was it? You made a noble sacrifice there but I wish to ask you why?"

Ash looked at him confused "you mean why did I jump in front of the beams? Because either you or Mew would've died and that would mean pointless blood spilled"

Mewtwo nodded "I see. You are truly worthy of the title of chosen one, I shall call of my attack on the world"

To say a sigh of releif went through the room would be a understatement even the clone pokemon were glad about this

Mew floated over as Ash scrambled to his feat putting his illusion back on, the humans rushing over to him "you have done well chosen, I wish to join you on your travels if that's okay!"

Ash nodded "of course, I would need to capture you in a pokeball though" Mew in response tapped one of the empty pokeballs clipped around Ash's bag capturing itself "nevermind"

Ash immediately release Mew from its pokeball and turned to Mewtwo "how about you?"

Mewtwo sighed "I do wish to travel with you chosen, yet I cannot leave the clones alone"

"I can take care of them" Ash's clone said causing everyone who understood the conversation to turn to him "if I know correctly there's a massive field outside Proffesor Pan's lab, he's a trustworthy person correct?" Ash nodded "then we can move all the clones there I can look after them"

Mewtwo nodded "I suppose you could then, yes chosen I shall join you, but first I need to wipe the memories of all here"

"Wait" Ash said stopping him "everyone here is trustworthy.. well except for Team rocket but people need to know the truth about me. Especially Brock and Misty"

Mewtwo nodded "I trust your judgement" he turned to the humans "we will all be leaving this island, I can teleport all of you to wherever you would like to go tell me where and I will leave you there"

Blue was the first to speak seemingly recovered from the shock "Viridian City please, my Gym preferably" Mewtwo nodded and soon Blue along with all his pokemon disappeared

"Viridian Forest, I live there so it's probably best" Yellow said and soon she disappeared too

Red shrugged "wherever I suppose, just in Kanto preferably near a city" Mewtwo nodded and Red was then gone with the rest of his pokemon

"Vermilion City I was going to head to Johto after this" Green said, as per routine she disappeared too

"I uh" James said nerviosuly walking over

"Well say it" Jessie hissed from behind him

James nodded "I would like to be taken to a route outside Fuschia City I have... unfinished problems there"

Mewtwo nodded "I understand, good luck with your old friend James" and with that Team Rocket was gone

"And you know where all of us are going I suppose" Misty said

"Indeed, be prepared teleporting can be disorienting at first" Mewtwo said

And soon all our heroes found themselves outside professor Oaks lab, Ash knocked on the door and it was hurriedly flung open by a manic professor

"You caught Mew!?" He yelled then noticed the ensemble of clones behind Ash, as well as Mew flying around Mewtwo having a conversation "oh dear lord Ash you must have a story for the ages"

And so everyone entered the lab and relayed stories, Ash told the professor about his clone and what had happened over the past few hours and he told Brock and Misty why he had been disguised the whole time

After a small conversation clone Ash was taken on board as Professor Oak's new assistant and everyone was caught up to speed on Ash's history. Now there was only one thing left

The Indigo League

* * *

Authors Corner: dear lord this was a fun chapter to write, Ash has now caught two new legendary pokemon. He has a clone taking care of the other cloned and we only have one more chapter of Kanto... so I guess I will see you next time for the Indigo League


	10. Chapter 10

Authors Corner: and we are at the end of Kanto woop woop, this will be the last chapter with only Kanto until The Battle Frontier which is some thirty chapters away. But now IT'S TIMMME FOR THE MAAAAIIIN EVENT... I felt dumb typing that. Oh well lets get on with the show and see who wins the indigo league, take bets the odds are good

* * *

Ash was still training, it was three days until the league started and in that time his team had been getting in serious training, however for now they were taking a break and making a quick stop in Pewter City for Clefairy to test themselves at Mt Moon

"you know I could've teleported everyone here right? so could Mew and I'm sure Golduck wouldn't have minded doing it" Mewtwo pointed out as Ash entered the Mountain with just his pokemon

Ash paused nearly knocking the various pokemon off him "that is a very good point, and my answer to that is I entirely forgot, also how did you and Mew even teleport me when I'm a dark type?"

"Simple" Mew said doing spins in the air, oddly no one seemed to care about the two legendaries following Ash through town "Miracle Eye allows psychics to hit dark types like you Ash"

Pidgeot lightly tapped Ash with one of her talons from her perch on his head "keep moving we're making good time"

Ash sighed and kept moving "I swear if it's not you it's Butterfree, and if it isn't him it's Brock"

Clefairy ran ahead of Ash in the tunnels being barely lit by Charizard "its up here!"

Ash walked through the tunnels and arrived in the open clearing that he had met Clefairy at before to see lots of clefairy running around building the monument to the moon stone they had seen before

"Ash!" a voice said from Ash's side, he turned to see Seymour the very likely insane scientist standing there next to Brock "good too see you again friend" Seymour said waving him over

"Hey Ash" Brock said "what brings you here" Ash pointed to Clefairy who was talking to one of the clefable who seemed to be the leader "she wants to evolve? wow its been so long since she came with us its kind of weird to see"

Ash took out his book and flipped pages watching the multiple pokemon building the monument, he reached a page that said "and Pidgeot evolving after ten months isn't?"

Brock shrugged "good point, hey Seymour" he said looking at the scientist "can you leave us alone for a second we need to talk about something kind of personal"

Seymour nodded "of course friendly friends!" and with that he went to the other side of the clearing to continue studying the clefairy and clefable

"so Ash, I've been meaning to ask how do you have everything ready in your book, I've never seen you write in it" Brock said looking around

Ash flipped pages once "simple, the writing is all an illusion, the entire book is blank I just flip pages for effect"

Brock nodded "I guess that makes sense, how's the training with Mew and Mewtwo been going"

"it's been great" Mew said through telepathy "'Two has become way more fun since the island"

Brock looked at Mew confused "two?"

Mewtwo sighed "a nickname, and a bad one at that"

Butterfree laughed "most nicknames are"

then Team Rocket burst into the clearing "Prepare for no trouble were here to thank"

"and make it double no trouble here yet!" James said

Brock looked at them confused "what?"

James nodded "I needed to thank Mewtwo, thanks to him teleporting me I was able to rescue my childhood pet Growlie from my betrothed"

Mewtwo waved him off "thanks is not needed, I was helping a pokemon in help"

Jessie nodded "and in thanks we haven't told the boss your secret Ash, you better be thankful"

Meowth laughed awkwardly "anyway we need to get back to base... and blasting off would probably be the quickest route"

Brock shrugged "I guess it would be quicker than walking" he released Aerodactyl and nodded to him "they want to be blasted off

Aerodactyl nodded and glowed white, then stones around him glowed and were thrown towards Team Rocket at speed sending them blasting off

"we've lost track of how many times this has happened!" they said as the Rockets disappeared over the horizon

Ash flipped a page in his book "so why are you here?"

"the usual" Brock said "looking for fossils, Aerodactyl has made transport easier so I can come and go to Cinnabar to revive them easier. Anyway I met Seymour again and he told me The Moon Stone Festival was soon so I thought I would atleast watch"

"Friends it is starting" Seymour said running over "the Festival is starting"

Ash nodded and stood back watching as a Clefable placed the last stone on top of the MoonStone, a beam of light was struck into the night sky from the Stone and the Clefairy in the area started doing the dance they did before, when it was over a glow of light encompassed the area and when it faded three Clefable were in the place of the Clefairy, one of them being Ash's Clefairy or now Clefable

Clefable laughed happily "it worked! I evolved finally"

Ash smiled at her "what now then?"

"is that a question?" she said walking next to Ash "I'm going to come with you still, I've had lots of fun travelling and honestly Mt Moon is boring once you learn the pathways through it"

Charizard laughed "yeah we all now have clones and nearly died, world nearly taken over by the tall psychic cat"

"In my defence even you said humans were bad" Mewtwo said with a sigh

"lots of fun" Charizard finished "I especially liked the part where Pikachu nearly was thrown into lava by an insane gym leader"

Blastoise nodded "I mean lots of great battles, my old gang would be proud"

Ivysaur groaned "we've been over this, your no longer a squirtle your gang is disbanded!"

"to me its not" Blastoise said defensively

Soon Ash and his group of pokemon had returned to Pallette with Brock staying at Pewter for the day, the trip back was much quicker because of Ash remembering they could now teleport

Ash walked back into Professor Oaks lab where he had been basically been living over the lat three weeks and collapsed onto one of the chairs in the main room, the festival had been late at night and everyone but Clefable was tired

"ah Ash you're back" said the Professor who had been working upstairs "just to let you know your human caretaker will be coming over in the morning, you probably should've told her you were in town before"

Ash's clone walked in, who had taken to having his illusion wear a combination of a lab coat and a white top and jeans "for Arceus sake who captured thirty damned Tauros" he sighed also collapsing onto a chair "hey me, hey Mewtwo"

Ash waved at him "works been bad? Also you should probably get captured by the Professor to make sure no one else does"

his clone nodded "I know, Oak technically is all the clones trainer including me so he has our pokeballs, we did it while you were out. Speaking of which why didn't you teleport there"

Butterfree groaned "we realised only after we arrived"

the clone grinned "how am I even a clone of you"

"Simple actually" Mewtwo said "when you were cloned some of Ash's personality didn't make it through, so you're less into battling and actually pay attention to details such as teleporting. Actually most of the clones are less of clones and more of reverses of the original"

Ash groaned "I'm never going to hear the end of that am I? I'm going to sleep g'night" and with that Ash and his pokemon went outside to the campsite Ash had set up deep in the fields

the next morning Ash and his pokemon were waken up by his clone riding on the back of the clone Aerodactyl, of which the difference was a black stripe along its back "Hey me wake up! your human caretaker is here Oak said I should come in with you so ya need to get up"

Ash yawned and climbed out his sleeping bag "I got it wake everyone up get to Oaks place" Ash started packing his bag while his clone woke up the pokemon

When everything was prepared Ash's clone turned to Aerodactyl "thanks for bringing me out here, apparently the original me can't wake up unless its three in the afternoon"

Aerodactyl scoffed and flew off, Ash turned to Mew "can you teleport us to Professor Oaks lab?"

Mew flew around exited "of course!"

And then all the pokemon appeared three foot in the air in the centre of Professor Oaks lab, causing everyone but the three flying types to crash to the floor

"Ash?" A voice yelled from the right of the pile of pokemon "Ash why are there two of you!"

The group of pokemon slowly managed to organize themselves and all reached a standing position

Or in the two Ash's case a sitting position "is anyone going to tell me why there are two of the pokemon I raised in this room?" Delia, Ash's human caretaker, said looking at the two

And so the two explained the story of clones and... well not much else last chapter was mainly clones, leaving out the part about Ash dying

Delia shook her head "when Samuel said you had caught a Ho-Oh I was already surprised but this" she pointed to Ash's clone "this is just insane"

then there was a knock on the door, the Professor opened the door revealing Brock, he walked in saying hellos nodding to the two Ash's "Ash, other Ash"

there was a yell from outside in the fields and the sound of a stampede, Ash's clone sighed "and the tauros are doing that again, I'll be back in an hour" he said walking outside to take care of the stampede

Delia looked at Brock and then Ash "does he know about?" Ash nodded "oh okay"

Ash didn't even bother flipping pages when talking in private anymore "Brock was the person that caught me when Mewtwo threw me across a castle"

Mewtwo sighed "I knew someone would catch you... probably"

Mew flew around doing loops "and if someone didn't I would!"

and so the day was normal for the rest of it, Ash did training and relaxed with Brock, the next day came and went with no events other than training, and finally the day had arrived, the Indigo League was open

"Alright Ash we have until seven PM to get from Palette to Viridian, even if you manage to break another bike we should make good time" Misty said, her and Brock had arrived early in the morning to set out

Brock nodded "and if we cut it close we can teleport. But even then it's only an hour walk"

Ash's clone clapped Ash on the back "I won't be there for the first days but you can count on seeing me in the audience for the finals"

Delia smiled at Ash "good luck Ash, win for Palette"

Oak grinned sheepishly "you'll excuse me for cheering for Gary if you two fight, but good luck anyway!"

Ash waved goodbye and left the gates of Palette, and our heroes set off for the Indigo League, site of the Indigo Plateau Conference

"I wonder what happened to that Fearow flock" Misty said absently mindedly as the group walked through Route One

Ash flipped pages with his book landing on one that said "Pikachu happened"

Misty looked at him confused "and my bike?"

Ash flipped pages again "Ho-Oh happened"

Misty sighed "if you told me ten months ago that a legendary bird of Johto burned my bike I wouldn't have even traveled with you Ash, but now I this makes perfect sense"

Brock stopped in thought "wow it has been ten months, I guess most of that was getting to Blaine's gym though" Brock said recalling the few months they had got lost in the forests around Fuschia

Misty nodded "it feels like it's been three months at most"

then there was the sound of lots and lots of wings from behind the group,

"I think we found the Fearow flock" Pidgeot said from her perch

Pidgeot was in fact correct, and soon a flock of Fearow and Spearow was in the air surrounding our heroes

Brock and Misty had quickly released there pokemon ready for a fight

"you know" Mewtwo commented "maybe this would be threatening if we didn't have a small armada of powerful pokemon"

to say the battle was one sided would be a insult to sides, the fight lasted under a minute, between Misty's water types knowing ice moves, Brock's pokemon knowing rock moves and Ash just having two extremely powerful psychics on his side the Fearow and Spearow were unconscious quickly and our heroes continued to the next city

"that was simple" Brock said returning his pokemon "kind of feel bad for them"

"they're the reason my bike is burned" Misty reminded him

Pidgeot meanwhile was looking at the Fearow in thought as the group continued onwards

sometime later the group had arrived in Viridian, the last stop before the Indigo Plateau and so our group was relaxing in a pokecenter as they had made good time

"hey Ash?" Clefable said "what is the Indigo Plateau Conference anyway"

Butterfree nodded "I must say I was thinking the same thing"

Ash shrugged "guess I didn't really explain it, essentially it's the reason trainers collect badges, it's a tournament involving anywhere from two hundred to a thousand trainers, there are preliminaries until there are sixteen trainers left and then starts the real tournament until there is one trainer left and they're declared the winner, you need at least eight badges of the region to enter so that's why we went to each gym"

Pikachu grinned "sounds fun, lots of battles"

Mew hovered next to Ash, getting some stares from other trainers "so will we be used? fight's sound fun"

"of course" Ash said watching Brock try, and fail, to propose to the Nurse Joy that had previously sent Team Rocket blasting off with a dragonite "everyone will get at least one battle, but with our team being fairly small I think everyone will get two, even Ho-Oh"

Mewtwo looked intrigued at this "I was wondering when you would let him fight, he seemed eager to"

Ash leaned back in his chair "I know, but most gym leaders probably wouldn't stand a chance, the trainers at the conference though have to at least beat one gym leader at full strength so it should be good"

Misty sat down next to Ash, with a rejected Brock in tow "so what's the plan Ash?"

Ash flipped a page in his book "head to conference and battle, want to see about what this Flame Of Moltres is about"

Brock seemed to perk up at reading this "The Flame Of Moltres is the event that officially starts the conference each year, a flame that was lit by Moltres himself is carried from torch to torch before arriving at the stadium, any trainer that is qualified can carry it along with Gym Leaders"

Misty seemed excited at this "I didn't know gym leaders could carry the flame, I've always wanted to" Togepi trilled in her arms in seemingly agreement

Ash flipped a page in his book "then we better get going it sounds like fun"

and so our heroes set off on the home stretch to the Conference, after an hour of walking they made it to the top of a hill overlooking the village where the conference would happen

"I can't believe we made it" Ash said in awe staring over the village

"come on!" Misty said "the paths here" she pointed out a path that went down the cliff and through a forest, the group made there way down and into the forest, where a group of cheering people were

Ash flipped a page in his book "what are they cheering for?"

"that" Brock said pointing to a person running with a torch lit with a flame in hand

Ash flipped another page "and how do we get qualified for running it?"

"simple" Misty said "we go and talk to him" she gestured to a car driving along with the runner with a man with a beard on the back watching the flame

Brock ran up alongside the car since it was driving slowly and had a chat with the person in the back, he returned looking happy "Misty, Ash come with me" the two followed Brock and ran alongside the car "these are the people Mr Goodshow"

"ah wonderful" the man with a beard said looking at Misty and Brock "I am Charles Goodshow, your friend says one of you is a gym leader and the other has eight badges correct?"

Misty nodded "yes I am one of the leaders of Cerulean City's gym" she said pulling identification out of her bag which Squirtle was sleeping in

Ash flipped a page in his book while "I have won eight badges in the past ten months" he put his book away with one hand and grabbed out his badge case which he showed to Charles

"Wonderful! usually I don't let people into the run this late but we're missing three runners and you are qualified" he handed Ash, Brock and Misty a medal "wear these and you will be allowed to take the torch, speaking of that Ash take it now! Misty Brock get in the car I shall take you to the site of the next pass"

the car slowed and Brock and Misty jumped in while Ash ran alongside the runner

"You're here for the torch?" The man said panting, Ash nodded "Good take it!" he handed Ash the torch and stopped panting "good luck!"

and so Ash with his pokemon was left running with a officer Jenny on a bike following him to make sure nothing happened to the torch

"I can't believe we're running the torch!" Pidgeot said joyfully "I always watched it when the Conference came around"

Pikachu nodded from Ash's shoulder "I agree this is amazing"

Ivysaur sighed from his spot behind Ash "at least you don't have to actually run"

Charizard grinned deciding to run as well "power through it! think of running like training"

Butterfree looked at the crowd "if people already didn't know Ash had Mew with him they sure do now"

Mew waved him off "what are they going to do? catch me!"

Mewtwo nodded in agreement with Mew "they can't do much, none of the Rockets remember me other then Jessie and James but who would believe them"

Jessie, James and Meowth were secretly in the crowd cheering on Ash

"think the boss will be mad with us for cheering a trainer?" James said watching Ash run past

Meowth sighed "I love da boss but the twerp died on tha island, least we can do for em"

Jessie nodded "I hate the twerps but we're on a holiday! let's just enjoy the festival"

James shrugged "I guess we can take a break from being great villains"

Meanwhile Ash had made it to the next torch pass, handing it Misty giving her a thumbs up with his free hand, carrying the egg from the S.S. Anne in his other

"Ash over here" Brock yelled from inside the car with Goodshow, Ash nodded and ran to the car climbing in, his pokemon that couldn't follow running or flying outside

"well done lad" Goodshow said "with you Brock and Misty the torch will make it on time this year afterall"

Ash waved him off pulling his book out "it was fun, all three of us wanted to do it so why not"

The car stopped as our group reached the next pass point, Brock got out ready to take the torch and Ash went to mingle with the crowds since it would take a while for Misty to make the run

Ash scanned the crowd, eventually spotting a straw hat in the midst of it, he walked over to see Yellow and Blue

"Howdy Ash" Yellow said noticing him walking over "glad to see you've made it"

Blue waved to Ash "Gramps said you were on your way. So you, Misty and Brock ran the torch?"

Ash took his book out with one hand and flipped pages "yeah, Misty is running now with Togepi and Squirtle and I ran before her. How did you get here so quick?"

"I live in Viridian Forest" Yellow said

Blue shrugged "I basically live in my gym"

Ash flipped pages again "makes sense we had to run from Palette to here"

then Misty arrived for her torch pass and Brock left running with Vulpix and Zubat by his side

Goodshow came over to Ash "Ash come with me, the last three runners must be present for the final torch pass"

Ash waved goodbye to Yellow and Blue and ran to the car where Misty was waiting for him, soon the two were on the way to the final pass point, and exiting the forest the arena for the Conference came into view for the first time

Ash stared at the arena "this is it then, what we've been working for this entire time"

Pikachu nodded "odd to see it, for nearly a year we've been running from gym to gym to get here"

Misty noticed Ash's expression "exciting isn't it"

Ash nodded still looking at the arena, as the car stopped

the group got out, it was the shortest torch pass of the event and would signal the end of the running with the torch being passed to Charles Goodshow who would keep it until the next day for the lighting of the torch

Brock arrived soon, and passed the torch formally to Goodshow who had a microphone in his one hand the torch in another

"Ladies and Gentlemen I am proud to say The Flame Of Moltres has arrived! and tomorrow in the arena we shall light the torch signifying the start of the The Indigo Plateau Conference!"

the crowd cheered as Charles Goodshow left the clearing with the torch in hand

Brock tapped Ash on the shoulder "you still need to sign up officially for the Conference" he said pointing towards the sign up booth in the clearing

Ash nodded and started went over to the booth to sign up,

"name please?" the attendant said looking up to Ash

he flipped a page in his book "Ash Ketchum"

the attendant nodded "and badges?" Ash took out his badges and showed the eight he had won "excellent, come back tomorrow after the opening ceremony for your first battle, here are the keys for the house you may stay in for the duration of the event and a map of the area" he handed Ash keys and a map

Ash made his way back to Brock and Misty with the keys and map, Misty waved him over

"So Brock and I have decided to be your coaches for the Conference" Misty said when Ash arrived

Brock nodded "We'll be helping you all through the event"

Ash flipped pages in his book "Great! I need all the help I can get"

"And if it isn't the punk of Palette" if anyone could've heard Ash other than the pokemon they would've heard a groan, Ash turned to see Gary "you actually made it, what did the Gym Leaders take pity on you and give you badges for free?"

Charizard groaned "Can I please kill him this time, we didn't get a chance on that boat"

Misty scowled "oh for Arceus sake Ash managed to beat your brother so shut up"

Gary scoffed as usual "please, he couldn't even win a tournament he's worth nothing to me! Anyone who beats him just proves that he's worse than I thought"

"Whats that about me being worse then you thought?" Blue had seemingly appeared behind Gary from the crowd "because it more sounds to me like 'oooo I'm the great Gary Oak I somehow got a car despite being ten years old look how amazing my ego is'" Blue said his voice taking on a mock impression of Gary's

Gary rolled his eyes "at least I managed to beat eight gyms unlike you"

Blue nodded in mock happiness "oooh good job you beat more gyms then me, while when I was on my journey half for the gym leaders were out for my blood" Blue looked over to Ash "I'm going to be a while pointing out why my brother is bad, where you staying for the tournament" Ash showed him the keys and map which has the house Ash's group was staying at circled "good, I'll stop by later"

And with that Ash Brock and Misty awkwardly left leaving the two brothers to argue

Brock looked up at the sky, it was almost night "we should probably head to our housing if we want to see the opening ceremony tomorrow" he said

Ash nodded and passed him the map because Ash once managed to get everyone lost in Professor Oak's ranch. And so soon with Brock in the lead they arrived at the housing, a small log cabin

"Looks nice" Misty said examining cabin

Ash nodded and unlocked the cabin, walking in

Brock as he walked in "I'm going to sleep now all that running has made me tired"

Ash nodded in agreement going to find a place to sleep

Sometime later everyone was asleep, all except our hero turning in bed over and over in thought of the next day, he sat up in bed and threw his cap on, intent on a walk

Ash left a note, which since it was actually written by him was extremely messy

Ash walked through the forests around the arena, eventually coming to the arena itself standing inside of it looking around

"Ash?" a voice said from behind him as he looked around the arena "what are you doing up this late?" Ash turned to see Red

he flipped a page in his with one hand, having taken the egg with him "couldn't sleep"

Red shrugged "I know that feeling, I've been put in charge of the opening event for some reason, something about being a previous champion"

Ash flipped another page "How was your first tournament?"

Red laughed joyfully "I was amazing! I won every fight in ease... okay it may have come down to my starter versus Blue's but that doesn't matter, since then I've grown! and been turned to stone last year" he looked thoughtfully at Ash "why does everyone from Pallette get turned to stone?"

Ash shrugged and sat down flipping a page "I just need to calm my nerves"

Red clapped Ash on his back "well calm em!"

And so the two sat for a while, eventually both going back to their respective housing when dawn was breaking, Ash arrived to find everyone still asleep and in turn threw away the note he had left

and soon the opening ceremony came, all the competitors standing in the arena while Goodshow stood next to a podium with the torch for the Flame Of Moltres on it

"And so we begin another year of The Indigo Conference" Goodshow said a microphone projecting his voice around the arena "another year of two hundred fifty six trainers fighting for the honour of winning and with this torch" he held up the torch he was holding "we start a new tournament" he went to light the bigger torch when the smaller one he was holding was blown away by a gust of wind, when the wind died down it revealed Moltres himself flying above the flame, he hovered there for a moment before lighting the torch

"We will meet again soon chosen!" Moltres said flying away

the arena was silent watching what had just happened, oddly no one had noticed Mew following Ash but a Moltres was lots bigger and had caused a stir

"Well!" Goodshow said looking astonished "we have witnessed a great event today, the Torch Of Moltres being lit by Moltres himself,and now we begin this years events, other the next several days trainers will compete! And we hope even if you don't win" he gestured to the trainers in the arena "you all have a great time and meet new friends!"

a cheer erupted around the arena as the trainers slowly filed out prepared for their first battle, Ash walked out one of the many exits to find Misty and Brock waiting for him

"come with us Ash" Brock said waving him over "you need to go to the booth you signed up for the Conference to get selected for your first battle"

Ash nodded and followed Brock and Misty to the booth he had signed up at

"oh Ash!" the attendant said, revealing herself to be Green "so you made it good!"

"Green?" Misty said "I didn't know you worked for the league"

Green sighed "I don't, but dear old Blue is making all of us do something for this years event so I'm signing people up for the event" she turned to Ash "you signed up yesterday right? your names on our list"

Ash nodded in confirmation

"Good good, so how the Conference works is you must fight in four arenas before qualifying to fight in the Indigo Stadium" she said gesturing to the arena behind them "so we're going to draw your name and you'll be randomly selected to fight in your first arena, come back every day until you win all four or get knocked out and you will be in a different arena each time, so let's see" she started flipping pages on her notes at a quick speed before landing on a name randomly "you will be fighting Mandi at..." she flipped another note landing on another name "the water field"

Brock raised an eyebrow "is that how you're meant to do that?"

Green shrugged "I'm not meant to but there's nothing saying I can't" she leaned back in her chair "so you'll be fighting in the water arena at four PM, now get your holding up a line"

Ash waved goodbye and walked to a bench to sit down with Brock and Misty

"so Ash what's your plan?" Misty asked "you'll want pokemon that are good in water so no Charizard"

"And why can't I battle?" Charizard asked angrily

"Because" Ash said "you die if your tail touches water and we're in a water field"

Charizard couldn't find any objection to this

"So Ash what's your plan?" Misty asked again "it's three on three battles until the Indigo Stadium"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Blastoise is the obvious choice, Pikachu would be good in case of flying types or they dive into water and I have no clue for a third"

"I could be the third" Mew said doing their usual spins in the air

Mewtwo sighed "I think that would be overkill on a level where you may actually kill your opponent"

"I could fight" Pidgeot said

Ivysaur shook his head "If your wings get wet you're finished"

"What about me?" Clefable said "I fought against Misty"

"and you nearly drowned" Ash pointed out

"I might be able to" Ivysaur said "I learnt how to swim when I was living with Melanie I had to rescue a caterpie from a river"

Ash nodded "I suppose that works" he flipped a page again "Ivysaur knows how to swim so he's my third"

Brock nodded "that makes sense, what about the other battlefields when you fight at them?"

Ash flipped a page "depends what type they are"

"well that's in the future we have a plan for now" Misty said

Brock looked at the watch he was wearing, having to keep track of time for Ash and Misty "we have just over three hours until your fight what do we do until then?"

"We could watch the other fights to see what Ash is up against" Misty said

Ash nodded in agreement and let Brock lead the way to one of the four battlefields arriving at the water one to sit and watch the fights

"seems like Gary isn't fighting here today" Ash commented when it was nearing his time to fight "shame, would be good to see his team"

"Ash" Brock said tapping him on the shoulder "you should go get ready for your fight now it's ten minutes til yours" Ash gave Brock two thumbs up and picked up the egg he had on the chair next to him and set off for the entrance to the back area of the battlefield, arriving outside a door being guarded by an officer Jenny

"are you here to fight?" she asked looking at Ash, Ash nodded "we need some identification, a pokedex or trainer card" Ash took out his pokedex and handed it to the Jenny who examined it then handed it back to Ash "you are clear to pass" she moved aside from the door letting Ash pass

Ash sat in the room waiting for ten minutes to pass, soon the competitor from the last fight came out looking dejected and walked past Ash hanging his head low, soon after Ash was called for his battle

"You scared?" Butterfree asked from Ash's shoulder

"I would by lying if I said I wasn't" Ash replied "this Mandi might be the winner of the conference eventually"

Mew scoffed "Please we all know it's going to be you, with us you can't lose!"

"I wouldn't get cocky" Mewtwo said "things can go wrong"

Ash and his group of pokemon arrived at the light entering it to find themselves on the right side of the battlefield, a lake with small islands of land dotted around it

"Good luck Ash!" Ash looked behind him to see Brock and Misty sitting "we talked to Goodshow and we're allowed to sit here and coach you now focus on winning!"

then Mandi arrived, a army of pidgys seemingly appearing out of nowhere behind him

"Greetings opponent I am the Mandi the astounding bringer of your defeat!" Mandi said pointing to Ash

Charizard scoffed "now you need to beat him"

the referee raised his flags "round one begin, challengers send out your first pokemon on my command"

Mandi reached for a pokeball and Ash was ready to send out Blastoise "go!"

Blastoise jumped into the water and swam to a platform while Mandi sent out his first pokemon, an Exeggutor

"you know Bite right?" Ash asked looking at the Exeggutor, Blastoise nodded "good, swim in the water try to get the jump on them" Blastoise dived into the water disappearing from sight, soon appearing behind Exeggutor biting into it knocking it out

"Round one goes to Ash The announcer called

Mandi flipped his hair "one victory is not enough to defeat the magniflorious Mandi" he recalled his pokemon

"what's magniflorious mean?" Pidgeot asked from her perch on Ash's head

"I think it means something along the lines of magnificent and wonderful" Ash speculated

"in his case it should mean worthless" Charizard said

the referee raised his flags again "send out your next pokemon Mandi"

Mandi produced a pokeball with a flip of his wrist, sending it out to reveal a Seadra

"Begin round two" the referee called

"Blastoise slow him down first" Blastoise nodded and dived in the water

"Follow his moves" Mandi yelled to which Seadra jumped into the water as well

Blastoise however had other plans, grabbing Seadra from underwater and throwing him back onto land, Seadra was sufficiently slowed... also unable to move

"and finish it with Skull Bash" Ash yelled, Blastoise in turn tucked his head in, before waiting a moment then charged directly at Seadra sending him flying back to Mandi's side knocked out

"Round two goes to Ash" the referee called

Mandi recalled his Seadra a look of annoyance on his face "this will be your undoing" he yelled producing another pokeball "this is my strongest pokemon!"

The referee raised his flags "Mandi your final pokemon" and with that Mandi sent out his pokemon, a Golbat

"You should switch pokemon Ash" Misty said "he has a flight advantage"

Blastoise shook his head "I can take them I learnt a thing or two from my clone"

Ash nodded at Blastoise and picked up his book from behind him, flipping pages before landing on one "Blastoise wants to stay in I trust him"

Brock frowned "I get you trust your pokemon Ash but switching to Pikachu would secure a victory, good luck though"

"begin the third round" the referee yelled

"Fly high" Mandi called dramatically pointing

in return the cannons on Blastoise back glowed a light blue, before they both fired a beam of pure ice which met in the middle merging into a single beam which hit Golbat causing him to fall knocked out

"the victor is Ash Ketchum" the referee yelled, as the screen behind him changed to show Ash's picture with 'WINNER' displayed under it

Blastoise swam back to Ash quickly and the group walked back the way they came through the dark tunnel

"I didn't get a chance to fight" Pikachu said with a sigh

Ash shrugged "I'm sure everyone will get a chance to fight this was just our first one chances are it will be harder later"

"and besides" Blastoise said "in my old gang we had to learn to take on more than one target"

"except for that your no longer a squirtle, and your gangs disbanded" Ivysaur said

"We shouldn't celebrate yet though" Mewtwo said "we still have three battles before we get past the preliminaries"

And so the rest of the day was normal, Blastoise didn't even need healing and we find Ash back with Green for the next day

"Good job on that battle yesterday" Green said with a yawn "so you're here for your battles for today?" Ash nodded "good, you have two today so your first is against..." she flipped pages on her list of names "Dawson Colby at the" she flipped another page "rock battlefield today in an hour and" she flipped her name page again "Pete Pebbleman at the ice field just after" she looked down at her notes "yeah thats right, now get"

Ash returned to Brock and Misty who were sitting at a bench nearby waiting for Ash

"So when's your battle?" Brock asked as Ash sat down

he flipped a page "I have two today one at the rock battlefield and another at the ice field just after"

Misty nodded carrying a sleeping Togepi in her arms "So whats your plan?"

Pidgeot tapped Ash on the ear "If its a rock arena I could help"

Ash nodded "makes sense, you'll be able to stay off the ground and get the advantage"

Charizard raised a claw "I can fly as well"

"I want to fight" Clefable said

Ash looked thoughtfully for a second "that leaves Butterfree, Pikachu and Ivysaur for the ice arena" he looked at the three pokemon in question "are you okay with that?"

"As long as I actually get a battle this time" Pikachu said with nods from the other two

"Would the best course of action be to recall each of you after a win? so everyone fights?" Mewtwo asked

Ash considered this "that would make sense" he flipped a page in his book to show it to Brock and Misty "Clefable, Pidgeot and Charizard for the rock battlefield, Pikachu, Butterfree and Ivysaur for the ice. We've decided that after each round the pokemon in battle will recall so everyone can battle"

Brock looked thoughtful at this "that makes sense, but when you get to the Indigo Stadium I wouldn't recommend that plan recalling a pokemon disqualifies them and you need six pokemon for everyone past the preliminaries"

"and you haven't use Mew, Mewtwo or Ho-Oh yet" Misty pointed out

Ash flipped another page "that seems like overkill in the preliminaries"

"Ash, Brock Misty" A voice called from nearby as the trio were about to continue discussing, the source of the voice was Todd "great to see you all made it!" he said panting

"Todd are you okay? You look like your about to pass out" Brock said looking at the photographer

Todd waved his hand at Brock still panting "oh its nothing I've just been running from battlefield to battlefield to get good shots" he sat down on the bench nearly collapsing "when's your first battle Ash?"

"I hate to break it to you" Misty said "but you missed Ash's first battle"

Todd groaned and leaned back nearly falling off the bench "you've got to be kidding! I was running from battlefield trying to find you" he looked over at Ash and his assorted pokemon "is... is that a Mew?" Ash nodded, in response Todd slowly raised his camera and took a picture of Mew "I just got a picture of a Mew" Todd said a look of wonder on his face

"Ash somehow managed to add two legendaries to his party" Misty said "yet he can't pay me back a bike"

Ash flipped a page in his book "what do you want! I'm not breaking into another shop"

"another?" Brock asked

Ash flipped another few pages "there was a branch of Team Rocket keeping pokemon in cages, I broke them out"

Misty looked at Ash confused "when was this!"

"I would also like to know when this was" Pidgeot cawed

Ash flipped a few pages "about a week or two before Mewtwo's island"

Ivysaur shook his head "I have no memory of this"

"Does the phrase 'master of illusions' mean nothing to you?" Ash asked "I did it at night when we were in that big town before Cinnabar, how do you think I get so many pokemon in the pokedex Oak asked me to fill it in so I go out at night to scan pokemon seen every pokemon in Kanto except for the legendary birds"

Ash flipped a page in his book "enough of bikes, how long do we have until my battle?"

Brock checked his watch "just over half an hour we should be on the move now"

"where is your next fight Ash?" Todd asked

Ash flipped a page "rock battlefield"

Todd took a book out of his pack and scanned a page carefully "oh thank Arceus, I was on my way there now anyway"

and so our group headed to the Rock Battlefield to watch the battles before Ash's

"Still no Gary" Ash commented watching a battle between a trainer with grey hair and a blue coat versus a trainer with a red coat and purple hair "shame we can't get a grips on his team"

Charizard scoffed "I think it's good, he looks so killable"

Mewtwo sighed "please stop with the murder"

Brock tapped Ash on the shoulder "you're up next and this battle looks like it's ending you might want to get ready"

Ash nodded and stood up heading towards the door for fighters, going past the protocol with the Jenny again and sitting in the waiting room

Ash looked around the room "nerves aren't any better the second time around"

the blue coated trainer walked out muttering about weak pokemon

"So who's opening the fight?" Ash asked as the group walked down the tunnel to the battlefield

the three pokemon fighting looked at each other in thought

"I think it would be wise for me to start to get a grips on our opponent" Pidgeot said "with a flight advantage and all"

"I can fly too" Charizard grumbled

Pidgeot cocked her head to one side "but it would make sense to start with a water type on a rock arena"

Clefable shrugged "we're all getting a chance to fight so I don't mind"

"you're going to need to decide about now!" Mew said floating alongside Ash, this was true as the group was directly in front of the battlefield

"fine Pidgeot can go first" Charizard sighed"

The pokemon arrived on the battlefield, a rocky plain with multiple large boulders around for climbing

Ash's opponent, Dawson arrived on the other side of the field, a man with a white overcoat and black hair. Looking excited just to be there

"Good luck!" he yelled across looking around at the battlefield, Ash nodded back to him

the Referee ran onto the field, standing in a box to the side of the arena raising his flags "trainers send out your first pokemon on my count"

"Good luck Ash!" Brock yelled, having got seats behind Ash again with Misty and Todd, the last one having his camera ready consistently

"begin!" the referee yelled

Pidgeot took off at an insane speed, while Dawson sent out his first pokemon a charmeleon

"fire fang" Dawson yelled, Charmeleon ran forwards toward Charmeleon

"Fly up and dive down on him with a air slash" Pidgeot took off to the skies before Charmeleon could hit her, stopping at the peak of her ascent before plummeting down to the ground, stopping in mid air to flap her wings harder releasing a beam of light blue energy that collided with the lizard knocking it out

Dawson laughed nervously as he recalled his pokemon "good job!"

"Pidgeot come back" Ash said, in response the bird landed on his head

"Ash Ketchum do you recall your pokemon?" The Referee asked, in return Ash nodded "trainers send out your second pokemon on my command"

"I'm taking second" Charizard said stretching his wings out

"Begin!" The referee yelled, Dawson sent out his pokemon which barely had time to appear before Charizard grabbed it flew up and flew back down. Charizard had just done an airiel suplex. Knocking out the Lickitung

Dawson recalled his pokemon shocked, not saying anything just staring at Charizard confused

Charizard flew back to Ash's side standing to watch the battle

"Ash Ketchum do you recall your pokemon?" Ash nodded for a second time "trainers send out your final pokemon on my call!"

The two trainers stared at each other waiting for the call "go!" Clefable ran to the battlefield, quickly climbing one of the large rocks, Dawson sent out his pokemon a.. lapras.

"Oh no wrong pokeball!" Dawson yelled recalling Lapras realizing his mistake only after he did

"Dawson Colby recalls his pokemon Ash Ketchum is the winner!" the referee said raising a red flag to Ash

Clefable walked back an annoyed look on her face "I can't believe I didn't even get a move in"

Ash shrugged as he walked back through the tunnel "I'm sure you'll get a chance either in round four or in the Indigo Stadium"

"don't get cocky" Pidgeot said "we still have the ice field before we get to round four"

"makes you wonder" Mew said in thought "what gyms did these people go to that were beating them in one hit!"

"probably not Blue's" Pikachu said with a joyful laugh

the group made it to the door of the waiting room, leaving to see Brock, Misty and Todd standing waiting for him

"Amazingly done Ash" Brock said "top 64 at least now!"

"And I got some great pictures" Todd said examining his camera "even for a short battle the action shots were great"

Ash flipped a page in his book "that's because their was only action shots"

Brock looked down at his watch "We should probably head to the Ice Battlefield now so we have some time to organize ourselves before your battle"

Ash nodded and the group made their way to the ice field, An arena of pure ice with multiple tall ice spikes surrounded by smaller ones for pokemon to jump and fly onto

"okay for Arceus sake are we not going to see Gary at all this year? I just want to know his team so I can wipe that smug smile of his face" Ash sighed

Charizard growled "and so I can drop him in a river"

Mewtwo rolled his eyes "could you not murder anyone"

Misty elbowed Ash in the back "get going your up next"

Ash stood up and made his way to the side room as usual, sitting down to prepare

"Think this fight will be harder?" Blastoise asked

Ash shrugged "I don't know maybe we've been getting lucky is all"

"No way" Charizard said "we're just that damn good"

At that point the trainer that had been fighting in the battlefield before walked back, looking happy

"We should get going" Ash said standing up "let's atleast try to win this. Who's fighting first?"

the three pokemon fighting looked at each other

"I want to go last get a feel of our opponent" Pikachu said

Ivysaur shrugged... somehow "I don't mind down to Butterfree"

"I'll take first then, let everyone prepare" Butterfree said

Ash walked through the tunnel arriving at the battlefield examining it and his opponent. Pete Pebbleman standing across him

The referee raised both his flags "Trainers on my command send out your first pokemon!"

The two trainers stared at each other, Pete with a hand on a pokeball. Butterfree ready to take off

"Begin!" Butterfree took off to the air whilst Pete send out his pokemon a Tangela

"Grab that bug!" Pete yelled, Tangela in response revealed multiple vines and grabbed Butterfree's body halting it in air

"you have your wings still use silver wind!" Ash yelled Butterfree's wings started beating as fast as he could soon a stream of air was aimed directly at Tangela with silver crescents in it that collided with Tangela who released its grip on Butterfree

"Follow up with a bug buzz" Ash said Butterfree started vibrating his wings even faster, releasing a red sound wave towards Tangela, which collided with it knocking Tangela out

Pikachu and Ash winced at the sound

"Ow" Ash commented calling Butterfree back

Butterfree flew to Ash's side as the referee raised his flags "Ash Ketchum do you recall Butterfree?" Ash nodded "Trainers your second pokemon on my call!"

Ivysaur prepared to run onto the arena while Pete recalled his Tangela and got a second pokeball out

"Begin!" the referee shouted, Ivysaur ran onto the field and Pete sent out his second pokemon, a Cloyster

"Don't let him hit first Razor Leaf" Ash called. In turn leaves appeared from under Ivysaur's bulb that flew towards Cloyster directly hitting the black pear of Cloyster forcing it backwards

"Withdraw" Cloyster retracted into the shell around it "keep using it tire out Ivysaur"

"Ash keep up the heat even when a Cloyster is in its shell it takes damage" Todd said from behind Ash where him Brock and Misty were sitting

Ash groaned "just keep attacking it" looking bored at the battlefield

Ivysaur continually kept firing Razor Leaf at the Cloyster keeping it up for nearly five minutes. Eventually after about half the crowd had left Cloyster was on the ground knocked out

Pikachu sat up having laid down on the floor to watch "finally" he said "I was getting bored"

Ivysaur walked back to Ash as Pete recalled Cloyster "Ash Ketchum do you recall Ivysaur?" Ash nodded "Trainers your final pokemon on my command"

Pikachu stood up ready to run and as usual Pete grabbed a final pokeball

"Begin!" Pikachu dashed onto the field with a quick attack. Which was just for a dramatic entrance, Pete meanwhile had sent out his pokemon a Arcanine

"Agility" Pikachu started running left and right appearing and disappearing causing Arcanine to look around confused

"Don't stand there use Fire Blast to melt the ice" Pete yelled, Arcanine smiled and breathed a jet of fire that condensed into a singular jet that hit ice around the entire arena melting it into water, stopping Pikachu and causing Arcanine to drop into it

Ash grinned seeing an opportunity "discharge" Pikachu released electricity in every direction all of landing in the water, Pikachu was left unharmed... Arcanine was not so lucky

Clefable flinched "that's going to hurt"

the screen behind the referee changed to show Ash's face with "VICTOR" written under it, Ash and his group left back through the tunnel meeting up with Todd, Brock and Misty again

"good job Ash" Brock said "you're only one fight away from being through the preliminaries"

Ash flipped a page "I know I'm excited so close to it"

Misty sighed "Don't get cocky Ash the next match might be your loss" she said while holding a sleeping Togepi

Todd meanwhile was checking his camera looking in awe at the pictures "if these are only three on three's the other matches will be great"

The day came and went with our heroes watching the matches in the other battlefields the group sleeping and soon Ash was back with Green signing up for his last match

"So final day of me deciding your matches" Green said with a yawn "so I don't even need to decide this you're in the Grass Field so you're against" she looked down at her list of names "Jeanette Fisher at ten AM now get I'm busy for this final day"

Ash went back to where Brock who was checking the map already figuring out Ash was going to be at the Grass Field, Misty who was playing with Togepi with Squirtle on her shoulder watching silent as ever and Todd who was leaning back on the bench the three were sitting on looking around at the pokemon around

"So when is it?" Brock asked, Ash held up ten fingers "AM I'm guessing? That means we should head to the Grass Field about nine thirty"

"Good" Misty said "We have time to plan for whoever you're against"

"Who are you against anyway?" Todd asked looked at Ash "we should have some idea of there team this late into the tournament"

Ash took out his book sitting down next to Brock "Jeanette Fisher"

Todd shrugged "Don't remember that name so I don't know"

Brock pulled a small notepad he had been writing the names and teams of everyone that the group had seen in out of one of his coats pockets skimming the pages "I don't have anything about them so we have nothing on them"

"Oh well" Misty said with a sigh "What's your plan Ash?"

Ash looked at his team "so what's our plan?"

"Maybe it would be wiser to not have a plan for this match" Mewtwo said "see and react rather than let them see and react"

Ash considered this "that could work it might give us a better chance for a win and we'll need to do that after the preliminaries anyway too risky to limit our choices"

"I'm okay with that idea" Pikachu said "chances are we all will get at least two fights"

Ash nodded and flipped a couple pages in his book "No plan just react to what we see"

"That works" Brock said "seeing what's happening is the way most trainers work"

Todd looked confused at Ash "I've been meaning to Ask how come you always have the answer to everything in your book"

Ash flipped a page, internally panicking "I'm very prepared"

Misty laughed nervously "yeah Ash stays up late often to write things in his book right Brock"

"Yeah yeah" Brock said quickly

"then how come I didn't hear or see him doing it when I was camping with you?" Todd asked looking more confused

Ash flipped pages "I write quietly usual outside in the surrounding area to not wake anyone"

"I guess that makes sense" Todd said "still I'm surprised you prepare to this level"

Brock looked at his watch "we should head out now" he said trying to change the subject "Watch some matches before you know, there's only thirty two competitors left"

the group agreed at went to watch matches eventually arriving on the Rock Field to see the end of a match between Gary and a girl with dark green hair, the girl's Golem against Gary's Nidoking

Nidoking charged Golem, only to be grabbed by the horn before Golem jumped high into the air and back down crashing Nidoking headfirst into the ground, knocking it out

"And the winner is Melissa" The referee said raising a flag to Melissa's side

"Gary lost" Ash said surprised "we didn't get a fight after all of that"

Ash stood up "where you going Ash?" Misty asked

Ash flipped a page in his book "I need to see Gary before he goes need to talk about something"

Charizard sighed "do we have to?"

Ash nodded "yes I need to speak to him"

"Okay but must we?" Charizard said again

"Yes!" Ash said with a sigh "this is something I've been meaning to ask him about"

"alright alright" Charizard said in defeat "let's go then"

Ash ran outside the Field, catching Gary as he was packing his backpack outside

"what do you want Ash?" Gary said looking annoyed at Ash

Ash flipped a page in his book "I wanted to ask, since we never got a chance to fight what region are you heading to next? We never finished our rivalry"

Gary smiled bitterly "I don't know heading home for now, but I'll get back to you" he stood up putting his backpack on "see you later, now be the best Zorua this world has seen" and with that Gary walked off looking down in thought

"He knows about you being a pokemon how?" Clefable asked worried

Ash smiled watching Gary walk off "we've been friends for years, him and the Professor have known since I arrived in Pallette, we agreed to be rivals for our pokemon journey and he's been taking it quite serious I want to get past all of it and be friends again"

"So does that mean I can't kill him?" Charizard asked

Mewtwo sighed "you wouldn't be allowed to anyway"

Ash and his group of pokemon made their way back to the battlefield, sitting down next to his group of friends again

"So how'd it go?" Misty asked "with Gary I mean"

Ash flipped a few pages in his book "good got what I needed to off my back"

Brock looked down at his watch "we should head to the Grass Battlefield it's nine fifteen now"

The group made their way to the Grass Battlefield, waiting for the call for Ash's fight with it being one of the last of the day. The whole time Todd was taking pictures of the matches that lasted a considerable longer amount of time then Ash's last matches

"Ash it's time" Brock said, Ash nodded and stood up with his pokemon making the way to the door going past security with the Officer Jenny and sitting down on the bench, the door opened soon after revealing Professor Oak

"Ash it's good to see you made it this far" Oak said sitting down next to Ash

Ash flipped a page in his book "Thanks, I'm nervous to be honest"

"Don't worry nerves are normal" Oak said "Everyone in town is rooting for you though so good luck"

The trainer that had been fighting came out the tunnel and walked past Ash and Oak, Ash stood up and nodded to Oak before walking into the tunnel

"why did he have to say everyone in town" Ash sighed "that doesn't help with nerves"

"Look on the bright side" Mew said "if you win that means even more people are going to be impressed"

Mewtwo sighed "that doesn't help Mew, not at all"

Ash walked out the tunnel arriving on the battlefield, a flat grass plain with nothing else on it, on the other side was Ash's foe Jeanette Fisher a woman with long purple hair

"Who's up first?" Ash asked

Charizard stretched his wings "I need some anger relief after seeing Gary let me go until I get knocked out"

Ash looked at his team who had no objections "I guess so then"

The referee walked onto the sidelines and raised his flags "Trainers on my call send out your pokemon"

Jeanette grabbed a pokeball while Charizard got prepared to fly

"So Charizards starting looking at that pose" Brock said looking at Ash "to bad for Jeanette she's pretty" that gained Brock one smack in the head from Misty "Ow! Okay okay I'll cheer for Ash"

"Begin!" The referee yelled, Charizard burst forward as Jeanette threw out her pokemon, a Beedrill which had barely had any time to react before Charizard hit it with a flamethrower, knocking it backwards and out

the referee raised his flags again "Jeanette recall your pokemon and send out your next one" Jeanette sighed and recalled her Beedrill before sending out her next one, a Scyther

"Begin!" Charizard once again surged forward intent on burning the Scyther

"Double team" Jeanette yelled, Scyther started seemingly multiplying back and forth clones of him appearing everywhere

Charizard growled slashing at one, that disappeared as soon as he hit him

"Ash!" Misty called from her place behind Ash with Brock and Todd "You need to find a way to hit all of them at once"

Ash nodded "Charizard remember that strategy we practised, releasing heat everywhere? that"

Charizard grinned, a red ball of heat appearing in his mouth, before it exploded in every direction hitting every Scyther, including the one that was actually there knocking it out

"Jeanette recall your pokemon and send out your last one" the referee said once again raising his flags

Jeanette recalled Scyther "Be prepared this is my strongest pokemon!" she called sending out a Bellsprout

"and its a grass type" Ash sighed "This is basic type match up don't have three grass types in one fight against a Charizard"

"Begin" The referee said, it was barely a fight as Charizard grabbed Bellsprout before flying into the air all the while mouth burning with a flamethrower before slamming Bellsprout into the ground again, Bellsprout was pretty damn knocked out

"The winner is Ash Ketchum" the referee said raising a flag towards Ash, while the screen behind him changed to Ash's picture with WINNER under it

Ash made his way through the hall after Charizard flew back

"We actually made it through the preliminaries" Ash said joyfully "we genuinely made it into the finals"

Pikachu smiled "We're so close to winning, four fights right?"

Mewtwo nodded "We are now in the top sixteen so yes four fights"

Ash opened the door past the waiting room to find his friends waiting there, along with Blue

"Hey hey there's our victor!" Blue said seeing Ash come out the door "You're in the top sixteen"

Ash flipped a few pages in his book "I can't believe it myself"

"You also gave me some great pictures" Todd said looking at his camera as usual

"It was simple" Mewtwo said telepathically "She used three pokemon with a weakness to fire against a fire type"

Charizard scoffed "also I'm just so good I can take down three pokemon"

"I did that too" Blastoise pointed out

Misty waved Mewtwo off "regardless you're all still going to be fighting in the Indigo Stadium tomorrow"

Blue meanwhile was looking at a phone he was carrying "Hey Ash later today can you meet me at the restaurant outside the Rock Battlefield, bring everyone with you it's going to be at about five PM" and with that Blue walked off looking thoroughly annoyed

Misty watched him walk off "what was that about?"

"No clue" Brock said looking confused

The day went quickly for the group, exploring the forests around the town to find pokemon for Todd to get pictures of, Brock got rejected by no less than seventeen girls and Ash spent time talking with his pokemon soon enough it was five and the group had made their way to the restaurant Blue had told them to meet up at

"Good to see you made it" Blue said waiting outside the restaurant "Come in we've been waiting" he led the group inside, to a table that had Ash's clone, Red, Yellow, Green, Professor Oak and Delia waiting

"Surprise!" The group at the table said as Blue sat down

"We wanted to throw you a party for getting through the preliminaries" Red set gesturing to Ash, Todd, Misty and Brock to sit down

Blue sighed "and I was only told about it when I met up with you, thanks Red"

"enough of that" Delia said "You did amazing Ash, you've done what you always wanted to"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Not yet, still have to win four fights in order to win"

Green waved a hand at Ash "so? you haven't even used legendaries yet and you've outlasted the only other person from Palette so for now your the best from your town"

And so the night continued on, the group ate and eventually most returned to the housing Ash had been provided for a party, Delia and Oak however had returned to where they were staying

Later in the night Ash was sitting down, staring at the egg he had been carrying for nearly a year

"odd isn't it?" Yellow asked sitting down next to Ash "Both the other eggs from the S.S. Anne have hatched but this one hasn't" she laughed happily "maybe the pokemon in it is waiting for the perfect moment to hatch"

"Probably, even when eggs if a pokemon doesn't have any evolutions they have quite a semblance of sentience" Ash said leaning back on the sofa he was on

Yellow raised an eyebrow to him "how does the evolution stages help for sentience when in an egg?"

"Simple" Ash said "Depending on the amount of evolution stages a pokemon has the smarter they are when young, Misty's Togepi and Squirtle needed to be taught lots about the world as they reach their peak intelligence in their last evolution stage which is two evolutions away. Your Vulpix on the other hand has one other evolution stage so it is more intelligent than Togepi and Squirtle as it would take quicker to reach its peak" he turned back to the egg "meanwhile if the pokemon in this egg doesn't evolve it would be as smart as it could be when it hatched"

"wow" Yellow said "I never knew that"

Red meanwhile had climbed on a nearby table, slightly stumbling "A toast" He said groggily

"Oh for Arceus sake is he drunk?" Blue asked

"To the best Zorua pokemon trainer ever" Red continued, the group fell silent as Todd was still in the group, and he didn't know about Ash's secret

"wait what" Todd asked "what do you mean Zorua Pokemon Trainer a Zorua is a pokemon right"

"Yeah yeah" Red said stumbling again nearly falling off the table "Ash is a pokemon right!"

"OH FOR ARCEUS SAKE RED" Blue yelled, grabbing the carton of milk he was pouring a glass of for himself and throwing it at Red knocking him of the table

Todd looked at Ash confused "is he telling the truth?"

Ash nodded rolling his eyes dropping his illusion for a moment before returning to a human form, picking up his book "Yeah, It's why I can understand pokemon and it was meant to be a secret but recently pretty much everyone found out"

Todd nodded slowly in understanding "So that's why you always have the right thing in your book its all an illusion?"

"yeah" Misty said "I guess we all know now though thanks to Red"

Blue yawned "can someone check he's okay by the way? he fell pretty hard off that table"

"I, I'm okay" Red said raising a hand with a thumb up "Sorry guys"

the night went on as normal as a party can be, Red and Blue eventually left since they were working early the next morning, soon Yellow and Green left for similar reasons and finally Ash's clone left to go find a place to sleep, eventually the group of four were sitting around a table nearing midnight

"I'm going to bed now" Brock said yawning "good ni-" he was cut off as the egg that Ash was holding suddenly started glowing, Quickly Brock ran out of the room, followed by Misty and then Todd the group knowing the first thing a newborn pokemon must see is the trainer

The egg started glowing brighter and brighter as Ash's pokemon were quickly teleported out the room by Mew and Mewtwo, Ash took the egg out the incubator and held it in his hands

Eventually the shell disappeared and in Ash's arms a small purple bird with its wings stretching out into a fan shape appeared, an Oricorio

the bird slowly opened its eyes looking around before focusing on Ash then falling asleep, Brock, Misty and Todd slowly walked into the room while Mew and Mewtwo teleported everyone back in

Todd slowly raised his camera and got a picture of the bird before looking at Ash "what is it?"

"An Oricorio" Pikachu said "I saw them all the time in Alola"

Ash looked at Pikachu in surprise "you've been to Alola?"

Pikachu nodded "I used to live there, eventually I somehow found my way onto a boat and arrived here in Kanto, but enough of that there are four forms of Oricorio one for each island of Alola with different typing for each one, this one is a ghost flying type"

"Thanks captain exposition" Ash said, before flipping his book to relay information to Brock, Misty and Todd

"I'll ask the Professor about them when I see him" Todd said

Brock yawned "So can I go to sleep this time?"

It wasn't long before the entire group had retired to bed, all but Ash who had once again left at night unable to sleep walking through the forests around the town, before eventually arriving at the Indigo Stadium, sitting down and looking around

"exciting isn't it?" A voice said from behind Ash, Ash turned to see a boy with brown hair and a green and yellow outfit paralleling Ash "then again you can't hear me"

Ash raised an eyebrow "yes I can, can you hear me?"

The boy looked shocked sitting down next to Ash "yeah! you're a pokemon as well?"

"Yeah, a Zorua you?" Ash said

the boy laughed "You're probably not going to believe me but I'm a Mew"

Ash shrugged "I believe you, I'm friends with a Mew so whats your name?"

the boy looked stunned, he looked at Ash for a second before speaking "Ritchie you?"

"Ash" Ash said "so you became a trainer as well?"

"Yep!" Ritchie said "It seemed like fun and I have to say it's been insane, you wouldn't believe what I've seen"

Ash snorted "Try me"

Ritchie smirked "day one of my trainer carrier I caught a Lugia, should've seen my towns professor's face!" Ash stared at Ritchie for a second then laughed "You don't believe me?"

"No no" Ash said through laughs "it's that on my first day Ho-Oh decided to come with me"

Ritchie leaned back lying on the ground "Well damn, guess we're pretty similar then"

Ash leaned back next to Ritchie "bet I can top you?"

Ritchie raised an eyebrow "go on?"

"Well according to Ho-Oh apparently I'm the chosen one" Ash said standing up

"Well damn" Ritchie said also standing up "well do me a favour Ash, meet me in the finals got it?"

"Gladly" Ash replied, extending his hand for a handshake

Ritchie accepted the handshake "see you then" the two left the Indigo Stadium in seperate ways, both going to there respecting housing

the next morning Ash and his friends were standing in the entrance to the stadium, waiting for to find out who would be fighting for today

Green walked out of a back door a microphone in her hand "Hello trainers!" she said walking in front of the board "Today we will be going through the top sixteen of this years Indigo Plateau Conference and we will be now revealing the fights for today" she turned around as the board lit up, showing the matches

two stood out to Ash, Ash was against someone named Asunta and Ritchie was against someone named Owen

"So Ash what's your plan?" Brock asked "remember if you recall your pokemon they're disqualified"

Ash shrugged and flipped a page in his book, Oricorio had started perching ontop of Pidgeot making an odd bird totem pole "I don't know, want to use either Mew, Mewtwo or Ho-Oh this round though"

"You know Ho-Oh?" Oricorio asked "is he not the all powerful storm ending bird from Johto?"

"Indeed" Pidgeot said "Ash has somehow managed to make friends with no less than three legendary pokemon in ten months"

"well you'll probably want to go call Ho-Oh outside if you want to discuss it" Misty said

Ash nodded and walked outside into the forest followed by Misty, Brock and Todd, before taking the bell out of his bag and ringing it soon Ho-Oh was touched standing in front of Ash

"you called Chosen?" Ho-Oh asked

"yup" Ash said "We're now in the top sixteen of the Indigo Plateau Conference and I wanted to use one legendary per round until the finals I was wondering when you would like to fight"

"How come Ho-Oh gets first pick!" Mew asked

"Because" Mewtwo replied "Ho-Oh was the first to join Ash he deserves first choice"

Ho-Oh thought for a moment "the second match would be nice to compete in"

"thank you Ho-Oh" Ash replied

"anything more you need just call on me" and with that Ho-Oh flew off

"So up to you two decide who gets second pick" Ash said to Mew and Mewtwo, Oricorio meanwhile was watching Ho-Oh in awe. Mew and Mewtwo were staring at each other unbeknownst to everyone else having a psychic game of Rock Paper Scissors

"Argh!" Mew said after a short time "fine you win you can choose 'Two"

"I would like to fight first" Mewtwo said

"So I'm going last?" Mew said "but everyone likes Mew!"

"Look on the bright side" Ash said "You're going to be in the semi-finals"

"You're not using fighting with legendaries in the finals?" Pidgeot asked "that seems like it could be the best place to allow them to fight"

Ash shrugged "I want as fair of a fight I can get for the finals, I agreed to meet a friend in the finals"

Ash walked back to his group of friends relaying the plan to them, the group walked back into the Stadium sitting down in the stands waiting for Ash's match with it being the second of the day and Ritchies being the last

"Better pay attention Ash" Todd said "whoever wins the first match you'll be facing tommorow" Ash nodded and continued watching the match

"Hey I've been meaning to ask" Ash said turning to Mew after a while "How come there's more than one of some legendary pokemon"

Mew began to speak but cut themselves off looking down in thought "I uh, don't know"

Mewtwo sighed "I can answer that one, essentially with legendary pokemon there are two types of them the ones the reside in the hall of origin that have been dubbed as 'the original ones' as the name implies the ones from the hall of origin such as me, Mew and Ho-Oh are the original legendary pokemon of each respective species" he said "then there's also the 'Guardian Legendaries' which are more common around the world, the guardians have lesser powers than the original ones. In case of an original legendary being captured by a human that is deemed unworthy a failsafe activates that replaces that pokemon with a guardian"

"wow" Clefable said "so Ash really is the chosen one even to the point that pokemon from the hall of origin want to join him"

"Yeah that's really damn convenient" Ash said

Soon enough it was Ash's match up next, he made his way to the locker room, which was being guarded by Red for some reason

"Hey" Red waved at Ash as he walked to him "I know it's probably you Ash, well that or your clone, but I still need identification" Ash handed him his pokedex, red pressed a few buttons then looked satisfied and let Ash in "good luck!"

"So other than Mewtwo who's fighting?" Blastoise asked "'cause I haven't had a fight since the start of this conference"

Charizard scoffed "That's because you took a three on one and won"

"So did you" Ivysaur pointed out Charizard could not think of an argument for that

Ash shrugged "Don't know who else will be fighting, this fight is still a three on three and Mewtwo deserves to open the fight, we can't use our recall idea we have to start being serious"

Mewtwo rolled his eyes "Don't worry I can take on all three"

"Weren't you the one telling Ash not to get cocky?" Pikachu pointed out

Ash stood up from the bench he was sitting on "we better get going anyway" and with that he started walking down the hall towards the arena, soon arriving in the light to cheers from the crowd, he turned around to see Brock, Misty and Todd sitting behind him

"What we're still your coaches" Misty said "Don't think your rid of us yet"

"And here comes the green corner!" A voice yelled, it turned out that the Indigo Stadium had an announcer, who turned out to be Yellow "Assunta from Vermillion City"

a girl with long purple hair came out from her corner

the referee ran onto the sidelines, Blue, and raised two flags a red one and a green one "Trainers on my call send out your first pokemon"

Mewtwo didn't even flinch preparing to teleport onto the field while Assunta reached for a pokeball, the two stared at each other prepared "go!"

Mewtwo teleported onto the field while Assunta threw her pokeball revealing an Ivysaur

"Start off with a psychic" Ash called eyeing the Ivysaur, Mewtwo's eyes glowed and Ivysaur was thrown into the air, before being slammed into the ground repeatedly, over and over and over "I.. I think he's knocked out" Ash pointed as Mewtwo let Ivysaur drop to the ground

Blue could barely hold back a grin as he raised the green flag towards Assunta

"And Ash wins the first round quickly with the help of his Mewtwo forcing Assunta onto her second pokemon" Yellow said over her microphone

Assunta sighed recalling her pokemon, "On my call your second pokemon" Mewtwo remained on the field waiting "begin!"

Assunta sent out her second pokemon, a Rhydon

Mewtwo smiled to himself "let me try something for this one Ash" Mewtwo raised one of his arms to his side, a ball of blue energy appearing in it, he then teleported behind the Rhydon throwing the ball which exploded on impact knocking the Rhydon backwards and out

"Show off" Mew said rolling their eyes

Blue couldn't hold back a smile and barely stopped himself from laughing raising the green flag again

Yellow on the other hand couldn't hold back a small laugh "And Ash takes round two again in quick order forcing Assunta to her final pokemon"

Assunta recalled her Rhydon with a sigh, putting a hand on a third pokeball looking at Blue waiting for his call

"Begin!" Blue said, Assunta sent out her third pokemon a Venomoth

"And Assunta sends out her last a pokemon! A Venomoth" Yellow said "Though this may be a poor choice with Mewtwo's psychic abilities against Venomoth's poison"

Mewtwo simply floated up into the air, a glowing purple barrier appearing around him while his eyes glowed,

"I forfeit" Assunta stammered seeing the barrier "I give up Ash wins just stop that attack!"

Mewtwo stopped the attack teleporting back to Ash's side while Blue raised his green flag towards Assunta a shocked expression on his face

"Assunta forfeits" Yellow said surprised "Ash moves onto the quarterfinals" the screen behind Blue changed to Ash's face with "WINNER" under it as usual, Ash walked backwards into the locker room again smiling

"That was amazing" Oricorio said surprised "You took three on one and won"

"somehow I feel that will be a theme of the finals" Pikachu said "oddly like we're trying to get to the final fight as quick as possible"

"Who knows" Ash said "I'm just excited we're going into six on six fights tomorrow"

As the group walked out the locker room Red was waiting for the group

Red nodded to the group of pokemon smiling "Can't believe you managed that, three on one"

"What can I say" Mewtwo said his telepathic voice with a hint of pride "I can take on three pokemon simply"

"That and that you had a type advantage over all three of them with that Aura Sphere" Mew pointed out

The day continued on normally, Ash met back up with his friends and watched the rest of the matches for the day, Ritchie won his match, without Lugia, and so the group met up at the entrance to the stadium again to see the matches for the day

Green walked out of the door she had came out of yesterday a microphone in hand again

"So I'm guessing you know how this all works?" Green asked, when no objections came from the crowd she continued "Good! So today we'll being going through the top eight and top four so tomorrow will be the finals, meaning that today at most you will have two battles" the screen behind her lit up while she walked away, Ash scanned the board, Ash was fighting someone named Bryce which was also the first fight of the day with Ritchie's being the fifth that assured that the if the two won both fights they would be in the finals

"well you better go to the locker rooms now you're up first" Brock pointed out "we'll meet up with you after"

Ash nodded and headed to the locker rooms, once again being guarded by Red

Red yawned clearly tired "Pokedex Ash just hurry up please I need my coffee" Ash passed Red his pokedex, Red pressed a few buttons then handed it back to Ash "go win again or something"

Ash put his bag down on one of the benches sitting down next to it, pulling the small pouch out of his bag that held the bell Ho-Oh had given him

"so who want's to bet Ho-Oh is going to beat them three to one?" Clefable asked

"Ten sitrus berries says he isn't" Ivysaur replied

Clefable scoffed "Deal"

Ash put his bag back on and stood up, the group of pokemon following him as he headed out towards the arena, bell in hand, walking out to the red side of the field, Blue once again acting as referee

"And once again the red corner competitor is Ash from Kanto's own Palette town" Yellow said, still acting as commentator, Ash's opponent walked out, a man in a purple coat with slicked back brown hair "And his opponent Bryce from Sinnoh"

"Trainers on my call your first pokemon" Blue raised both his flags, Ash prepared to ring the bell he had been palming and Bryce with a hand on one of the six pokeballs around his belt "Begin!"

Ash rang the bell, a silence fell over the crowd in confusion before Ho-Oh dropped from seemingly no where into the arena in front of Ash, Bryce stumbled with his pokeball before sending out a Haunter

"And Ash begins with a stunning entrance from one of the birds of Johto, Ho-Oh" Yellow stammered quickly "while Bryce opens with a Haunter"

"Sacred fire!" Ash yelled, Ho-Oh in response took off into the sky beak glowing gold before a stream of golden fire was released from it engulfing Haunter, who when the fire died down was very very knocked out

Bryce recalled his pokemon "Nope I give up I am not dealing with this today" he walked away through the tunnel to his side of the locker rooms

"Oh come on!" Ho-Oh cried "I wait all of Kanto for one fight and I get one move come on" he turned back to Ash "if you are in need of my assistance blahblahblah bye" and with that Ho-Oh took off

Blue raised his flags rolling his eyes "Ash wins"

Yellow didn't have a response to what had just happened "and uh Ash goes onto the semi finals" she said stunned

Ash walked back to the locker rooms in silence "wow" he said "I mean that just happened"

"Yeah" Pikachu said "that did"

"Oh that reminds me!" Clefable said happily "Ivysaur you owe me ten Sitrus Berries"

Ash walked back through the locker room, past Red who seemed to be woozy from the apparent lack of sleep and coffee and on the way to meeting with Brock Misty and Todd was met with Ritchie

"Hey Ash!" Ritchie yelled waving him over "So you won?"

"Ash who's this?" Charizard asked "and can I drown him"

"This is Ritchie I met him a few nights ago, and no no you cannot down him he's a disguised Mew"

Mew looked excited at this and flew over to Ritchie "Wow you're transformation's are great" Mew said looking Ritchie up and down

Ritchie laughed nervously "I wish I could say it was, I haven't got the whole speaking thing or telepathy down yet"

"Anyway you could say we won, more of our opponent surrendered twice in a row and Ho-Oh only got one attack in" Ash said with a sigh

Ritchie shrugged "Hey at least you're winning, I was planning on letting Lugia for my next round anyway"

"Well good luck with that I've got to meet with my friends, they're probably getting worried" Ash said, Ritchie nodded and left preparing for his fight

Ash met back up with Brock Misty and Todd and the rest of the rounds went quickly, Ritchie quickly won his with the help of Lugia and when it was time for Ash's match Red stopped him outside the door to the locker room

"Ash you're not going to believe this" Red said through laughter "Green just told me your opponent surrendered after seeing your last match you're in the finals"

"OH COME ON" Mew yelled "I DONT EVEN GET A FIGHT!"

"Sorry but they gave up I can't do much" Red said with a shrug still holding back laughter

"Alright Mew come with me if you want a fight we'll have one, and hopefully Ash wont die stopping it this time" Mewtwo said rolling his eyes

Ash laughed "I'm sure it won't become a running theme that I die"

Ash made his way back to the stands while Mewtwo and Mew teleported away to who knows where

"Ash why are you back so soon?" Todd asked as Ash sat down "and where's Mew and Mewtwo I was hoping to get some pictures of Mew fighting"

Ash flipped a page in his book explaining what had happened to Todd, and who then relayed it to Brock and Misty, Yellow meanwhile had taken to her microphone to explain the situation to the crowd, and so it was time for Ritchie's final match before the finals. Which we don't have the patience to write about so let's just say Ritchie won

And so the day came and went, and the next day we find Ash in the locker room waiting to be called for the finals, meanwhile Brock and Misty were talking in the stands

"You ever feel like we're not really affecting what is happening with Ash?" Misty asked a slightly down tone in her voice

Brock nodded "All the time, I don't know what to do about it though"

Misty thought about this for a second before smiling and looking at Brock "I know what, I'm going to start catching and helping my water types evolve! Brock we just need to chase our dreams more efficiently like Ash is, he's managed to make it all the way here and we need to follow what he's doing. You want to become a great breeder then start working on it becoming the best breeder you can and I'm going to start working on my goal of being a water type master"

"You know that makes sense, why don't we I'm sure we can while still traveling with Ash" Brock mused

"Then lets do it!" Misty said smiling "and let's help Ash along the way"

Todd arrived back with the group "so what did I miss?"

Meanwhile with Ash Red had come to escort him to the arena, with Ritchie also ready for the fight

"So this is it" Butterfree said "It's been a long time coming"

Charizard scoffed "you can say that again, it's been nearly ten months! And Ash has died at one point"

"In my defence Ash was the one that jumped in front of mine and Mew's attacks" Mewtwo pointed out

the group arrived at the end of the tunnel, Red stopping to turn to Ash "Good luck out there, make sure you win for Pallette" and with that Red walked off, presumably to the stands to watch the fight

Ash stepped outside into the arena, Ritchie soon appeared from the other side the two only separated by the battlefield between them

"Hey Ash can you promise me one thing?" Ritchie asked waiting for Blue to start the match

"Sure, as long as it doesn't require meeting you in the finals or anything insane like that" Ash joked

"Oh sure nothing that insane" Ritchie grinned "no legendaries though agreed?"

"Of course, may the best trainer win" Ash said

"Ash who's starting?" Charizard asked "we didn't discuss this who's going to begin the fight"

Ash looked at his team thoughtfully, Blue saw Ash and didn't raise his flags yet, "Butterfree you were my first pokemon after my starter you can start"

"and what about me?" Pikachu asked "I was your starter!"

Ash smiled "you're going to be the last on obviously" he nodded to Blue who raised his flags seeing Ash ready

"And ladies and gentlemen we're in the finals of the Indigo Plateau Conference with Ash Ketchum versus Ritchie Gettum and both will be starting the fight soon, both have had track records of using legendary pokemon and it will be a treat to see them fight for the title of winner!"

Blue raised his flags looking between the two "Begin!" Butterfree flew onto the field, while Ritchie threw a pokeball revealing a Butterfree of his own

"Well thats just unfortunate" Brock said from his place behind Ash "remember butterfree are good with status moves and weak to psychic moves which they learn"

Ash gave Brock a thumb up and turned back to the fight, it seemed like both Ritchie and Ash were waiting for the other to make a move

"Well if they aren't going to start begin with safeguard!" Ash said, Butterfree in return flapped his wings hard a until a blue shield appeared around him and around Ash's team "Now Psybeam" Butterfree's eyes glowed blue before a beam of multicoloured light was shot out from them, Ritchie had many things planned for Ash's first move this was not one of them

"Happy left!" Ritchie's butterfree, nicknamed Happy, dodged to the left quickly the attack grazing his wings causing him to fall slightly "come on Happy you can get up I know you can do it" Ritchie said worry in his voice, Happy shakily started flying again hovering a few feet of the ground

"Don't let him fully recover use supersonic confuse him" Butterfree's antenna glowed a slight yellow colour before yellow circles were released from it colliding with Happy making his flying even shakier

"Come on Happy you can do it Psybeam" Happy's eyes glowed a purple colour before releasing a multicoloured beam towards Butterfree, Happy then collapsed to the ground

"Dodge!" Ash called not realising the attack was on target until to late it collided with Butterfree, sending him backwards falling to the ground, Butterfree wasn't knocked out but certainly unable of fighting

Ash ran onto the field and picked Butterfree up "Ash do you recall Butterfree?" Blue asked, Ash nodded as he walked back to his box, Blue raised both his flags "Ritchie's Butterfree is unable to fight and Ash's is forfeited on my call both of you send out your second pokemon"

"Both pokemon are unable to fight thanks to a close psybeam from Ritchie's side" Yellow said "both trainers have five pokemon remaining and will be sending out their next pokemon shortly"

"May I?" Pidgeot asked

Ash took Oricorio off Pidgeot's head and "of course"

Ritchie already had a hand on a pokeball prepared when Blue raised both his flags again "Begin!"

Ritchie threw his pokeball revealing a Fearow while Pidgeot shot onto the field

"Oh great, a Fearow" Pikachu sighed "not like we've had bad experiences with them or anything"

"Alright Pidgeot twister" Pidgeot's wings started beating harder glowing before a miniature twister appearing in between them before it launched towards Fearow

"Up!" Fearow flew up with a gust of wind following "Drill Peck" Fearow dived downwards towards Pidgeot beak seemingly spinning as it pecked Pidgeot repeatedly

"Agility get out of there" Pidgeot disappeared from sight appearing on the other side of the field "Now twister again" Pidgeot repeated their actions for the previous twister this time without time to dodge it collided with Fearow sending him to the ground, but not knocked out

"Assurance Fearow" Fearow quickly shot up into the air, straight towards Pidgeot a talon outstretched to kick Pidgeot

"Hurricane" Pidgeot's wings glowed a light blue colour, before she flapped them sending a powerful gust of wind at Fearow sending it to the ground headfirst, Fearow collided with the ground and fell down knocked out

Blue raised a green flag "Ash Ketchum wins the second round"

"Great job Ash" Misty said from behind him "You've managed to make up for that draw"

"And Ash takes round two giving him a small advantage against Ritchie"

Ritchie recalled his Fearow and prepared another pokeball looking to Blue for him to start the round

Blue raised his flags "Begin" Ritchie threw his pokeball revealing a Jolteon

"Okay this is bad, Pidgeot you need to make this quick" Pidgeot nodded and eyed the Jolteon carefully "Now quick attack" Pidgeot flew up high into the air before diving down at an intense speed a white trail behind her

"Discharge!" the spines around Jolteon's neck started sparking before electricity was released in every direction right as Pidgeot was in front of Jolteon, needless to say Pidgeot was knocked out

Blue raised a red flag "Ritchie Gettum takes the third round"

"Ritchie takes the third with Jolteon's discharge" Yellow said "the two are even again with four on four"

Ash sighed as he grabbed a pokeball from the clip around his belt "She's going to hate me for this" Ash recalled Pidgeot "alright who's next?"

Ivysaur raised a vine "I am the only one here resistant to electricity so it seems wise"

Ash nodded to Blue who raised both his flags "Begin!"

Ivysaur ran onto the field assuming a battle stance "Alright let's begin with leech seed" a seed sprouted from the bud on Ivysaurs back, before shooting towards Jolteon who was unable to dodge it, as it hit the seed grew into multiple vines that glowed red draining energy from Jolteon

"Pin Missile beat them before you run out of energy" Jolteon's fur grew spiked before multiple sharp needles were released from the fur at Ivysaur

"Counter with razor leaf" multiple leaves were released from the bud on Ivysaur's back, matching the needles hit for hit the attacks canceling each other out. After the attack Jolteon winced from the vines as they glowed red again "now while he's stunned Double Edge" Ivysaur charged forward at a great speed, clashing into Jolteon knocking it backwards and out

Blue raised a green flag towards Ash "Ash wins round four"

"Three to go Ash" Misty said a hint of excitement in her voice

Todd was hurriedly taking pictures "And these pictures are great"

"Ash takes the fourth round forcing Ritchie onto his fourth pokemon"

Ritchie recalled Jolteon preparing another pokeball while Blue raised his flags "Begin"

Ritchie tossed his next pokeball revealing a Charizard

Ivysaur's eyes widened as he backed away "Nope nope I am not getting that hurt" he ran back to Ash

Blue raised an eyebrow "Ash do you recall Ivysaur?"

Ash looked down at Ivysaur "You sure about this?" Ivysaur nodded, Ash in turn nodded to Blue who raised a red flag

"Ritchie wins this round because of Ash recalling Ivysaur"

"Ash why did you do that?" Brock asked confused

Ash flipped a few pages in his book "Because Ivysaur didn't want to fight I'm not going to make him" Ash looked to his team "Who's next?"

Charizard rolled his neck "I can take this one"

Blue raised his flags "Begin" Charizard dashed onto the field towards Ritchie's Charizard claw glowing a ghostly purple colour, Ritchie's Charizard saw it coming and flew upwards

"Follow him!" Charizard diverted his course upwards claw still glowing stretched towards Ritchie's Charizard

"Zippo blind him" Ritchie's Charizard, identified as Zippo, turned around mid flight before opening his mouth releasing a black smoke towards Charizard hitting him and covering the non dragon dragon, Charizard soon emerged from the smoke yet he was somehow turned in the wrong direction and scratching at his eyes blinded "Now Dragon Rage" Zippo stopped in the air hovering turning towards where Charizard was then his eyes started glowing the flame on his tail growing larger then he opened his mouth releasing a burst of blue and orange heat towards Charizard

Ash looked panicked not seeing a way to dodge the move as it approached Charizard, until a stupid idea formed in his head "Flare Blitz to your left" Charizard in a second before the Dragon Rage became cloaked in fire specks of blue mixed in with it charging at the Dragon Rage colliding with it the attack mixing with Charizards making the flames more intense, Charizard kept going towards Zippo at an insane speed colliding with the other Charizard knocking him to the ground, when Charizard stopped the blue around the attack sparked as Charizard was hurt from the recoil of the attack, but the added effect that the heat dissipated the smoke in Charizard's eyes clearing his sight

Brock whistled "now that was impressive"

Ash grinned hearing Brock "Shadow Claw straight down towards him" Charizard looked down seeing Zippo below him, claw glowing purple again before dropping from the air flipping to be facing down claw straight ahead

"Counter with dragon claw" Zippo flapped his wings quickly taking off to the air claws glowing green slicing them at Charizard who raised the glowing purple claw to block Zippo

the two Charizard's broke away from each other flying to opposite sides of the field staring each other down

"Air slash" Ash yelled, Charizard flapped his wings while they glowed blue, balls of wind appeared around Charizard before being fired at Zippo

"Block them with Inferno" Zippo's tail burned brighter again as the dragon opened his mouth breathing fire in every direction, not hitting Charizard but stopping all the blasts of air "now forward with slash" Zippo ceased the attack before bursting forward claws raised glowing white growing larger

Ash grinned seeing Zippo charge forward "Wing Attack" Charizard roared as his wings glowed white flecks of energy appearing at the end of the wings, he then charged forwards doing a spin in mid air dodging Zippo's slash and then hitting him with his wings causing Zippo to gasp as he fell to the ground "finish it Flamethrower" Charizard dived down to Zippo opening his mouth a jet of fire releasing from it hitting Zippo and by the time Zippo fell to the ground and Charizard had finished the attack Zippo was knocked out

Blue raised his green flag "Ash wins this round to say the least"

"And Ash takes an impressive victory with the help of Charizard against Ritchie's"

Ritchie recalled Zippo hand on a fifth pokeball while Blue raised both flags "Begin!"

Ritchie threw his pokeball revealing a Golduck as his penultimate pokemon

Charizard rolled his eyes "Of course you get the type advantage why wouldn't you"

"Don't worry about that Wing Attack" Charizard nodded eyeing Golduck before in a moment flying towards it wings glowing in the same way they had last time

"Water Pulse" Golduck brought their arms together a ball of water appearing in between them before being fired at Charizard hitting him dead on forcing Charizard onto his back barely awake "Now Aqua Jet" Golduck burst forwards surrounded by water propelled forwards hitting Charizard bouncing back after hitting and Charizard was knocked out

Ash raised a pokeball wincing, nearly all his team hated pokeballs and Charizard was definitely not a fan of them

"Don't worry Ash" Brock reassured "You're still not losing you're even"

Blue raised a red flag towards Ritchie "the winner of the round is Ritchie"

"Ritchie takes the round with a combination of a Water Pulse and an Aqua Jet Ash and Ritchie are once again even with two pokemon each!" Yellow called over her microphone

"Ash let me I've learnt lots and I need to prove I can take this" Clefable said looking determined

Ash nodded "Go for it"

Blue raised his flags "Begin!" Clefable jumped onto the field spinning as she went leaves appearing around her from seemingly no where before firing at Golduck, who tried to dodge but the leaves turned in mid air hitting him still

"Thunderbolt" Clefable's body became surrounded by electricity before it fired at Golduck

"Dodge with Aqua Jet" as the electricity approached Golduck it became surrounded by water moving barely dodging the move

"Moonblast!" Clefable dodged to the left as Golduck went past her with the aqua jet, before an image of the moon appeared behind her holding her hands out a ball of white energy appearing before firing at Golduck hitting it and knocking it back

"Come on Golduck you can do this" Golduck stumbled to his feet "Good! Now Hydro Pump" Golduck opened its bill and a powerful jet of water was released straight towards Clefable

"Light Screen!" Clefable moved a finger in front of herself, a screen of blue energy appearing, when Hydro Pump collided with it it bounced back hitting Golduck knocking him on his back "Thunder!" Clefable stood still as electricity seemingly striking out of nowhere appeared above her, hitting her before being corrolessed in a beam straight towards Golduck, hitting him and when the smoke settled Golduck was knocked out

Blue raised his green flag "the winner is Ash Ketchum"

Clefable walked back to Ash panting and stumbling "that last attack took it out of me, I can't fight anymore good luck" with that she sat down next to Butterfree and Ivysaur the two still recovering pokemon

Blue looked at Ash "Do you recall Clefable?" Ash nodded and Blue raised his red flag "Ash Ketchum recalls Clefable both trainers are down to their last pokemon"

Pikachu grinned "So it's down to me?"

Ash turned to him "seems fighting doesn't it?"

"Ash wins the round yet recalls Clefable ladies and gentlemen we are entering the final round!" Yellow yelled not bothering to hide her excitement

"You can do this Ash!" Misty yelled "you better after everything"

"Ash just remember to stay calm for this!" Brock said

"And get some good shots for pictures" Todd added with a laugh

Blue raised his flags as Ritchie grabbed a pokeball "Begin the last round!"

Pikachu dashed onto the field powered by a quick attack while Ritchie released his pokemon, a Pikachu of his own with a scruff of hair on his head

Ritchie laughed "Now that's fitting"

Ash nodded "Sure is! now don't hold back anything!"

"Alright Sparky let's do this! quick attack" Sparky dashed towards Pikachu barely being spottable as a blur of yellow

"Dodge left" Pikachu rolled left as Sparky nearly hit him with the attack then started sparking for an attack "wait!" Pikachu looked at Ash hesitantly barely dodging Sparky who had come back for a second attack "We don't know their ability go for something safe Slam" Pikachu stopped the electricity sparking around him and when Sparky came for a third hit of the quick attack Pikachu jumped up and used a jolt of electricity to slam into Sparky head first halting Sparky's movement and sending him rolling over to near Ritchie

"Feint!" Sparky recovered from the shock of being sent rolling to the other side of the arena and stood up before jumping into the air, landing on his tail and using it as a spring to go higher into the sky before coming down directly above Pikachu foot glowing white kicking him in the head sending him skidding back

"Double team try to wear him out" Pikachu started moving from place to place creating copies of himself that couldn't be differed from the original

"Discharge hit them all" Ash grinned as Sparky glowed yellow releasing electricity in every direction hitting the copies and when hitting the original Pikachu absorbed the electricity "ohhh oh no" Ritchie said silently eyes wide

"Slam!" with the extra speed from the electricity Pikachu dashed at Sparky repeatedly slamming into him until Pikachu came to a stand still electricity crackling over Pikachu's fur "No" Ash whispered "wait! Pikachu discharge"

"Don't let them quick Attack" Sparky dashed forwards clashing with Pikachu, Pikachu unable to dodge from the paralysis was hit and sent into the air

"Now!" Pikachu managed to move through the paralysis glowing yellow as Sparky had done before then he fired electricity in every direction most of it hitting Sparky who was pushed onto his back "keep going Thunder" lightning struck from the sky hitting Pikachu who then released it the bolt hurtling straight towards Sparky "Finish it" Pikachu dropped from the air glowing white as he flipped to be dropping head first onto Sparky hitting his head and when the dust settled Sparky was knocked out and Pikachu was standing on his feet

Blue raised his green flag while the crowd cheered "The winner of this match and by extension the Indigo Plateau Conference is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" the screen behind Blue changed to Ash's face with "Overall winner" under it

"Ash Ketchum has won! Ash Ketchum is the winner of this years Indigo Plateau Conference!" Yellow nearly screamed over her microphone

"You did it!" Brock called from behind Ash "You've won Ash"

Ash was stunned, staring around as Pikachu ran back and jumped on his shoulder "So did I do good?" the mouse asked looked around the arena "Because I think I did good"

Ash nodded looking around the battlefield in shock "We genuinely did it we've won"

Ritchie walked over to Ash smiling "that was a great match Ash, thank you" he held his hand out for a handshake which Ash accepted a smile coming to his face "now look alive you're friends are coming"

Ash turned around to see Red, Yellow and Green coming down the hallway Blue dropped his flags to come join them too

"Good job Ketchum" Green said seeing him "now you all need to get out of here for half an hour while we set up for the awards, get" she pointed towards her, Butterfree shakily perched on Ash's other shoulder, Oricorio perched on Ash's hat where Pidgeot would be if she was still awake, Clefable and Ivysaur clambered to their feet and followed Ash while he walked down the hallway, Ritchie making his way to his side picking up Sparky and walking away

"Did we do good?" Oricorio asked "everyone seems so happy"

Mew nodded happily doing spins the air "We did amazing, we've won!"

the next half an hour was a blur for Ash congratulations from everyone celebrations and laughs healing the rest of his pokemon, Charizard lightly burning Ash for recalling him, and finally Ash was standing back in the center of the battlefield on a podium, his team behind him, with Ritchie on his right taking second place, also with his team behind him and finally a nameless trainer on Ash's left taking third, with their team behind them, the other top sixteen were standing there as well, Charles Goodshow came out with Red by his side and started awarding all the top sixteen a small crystal with a golden pokeball shaped badge in the base of it, before finally coming to the top three

Goodshow looked at the woman to Ash's left "And for our third place competitor, Kahili of Alola our third place trophy" Red handed the lady a bronze trophy that was topped by a replica bronze pokeball

Red turned to Ritchie "For the runner up of this year, Ritchie Gettum of Frodomar City our second place trophy" Goodshow handed Ritchie a silver trophy topped with a silver replica Super Ball, something that somehow none of the trainers Ash had met had used

Goodshow and Red looked to Ash at once "And finally for the winner of this year, Ash Ketchum of Pallete our first place trophy and an invitation to challenge the elite four of Kanto" Red gave Ash a golden trophy, topped with a replica Ultra Ball which once again somehow no one had used in Kanto, and Goodshow gave Ash a plastic card with a picture of Ash with all the members of his team by his side "you may challenge the elite four at any time, just keep the card"

Red nudged Goodshow "We need to get a picture of everyone now" he reminded the man

Goodshow nodded "you don't need to run the event Red, get the camera man out here"

Todd hurriedly ran out of a tunnel facing the sixteen victors "Sorry I'm late" he panted "I was only told just now" Todd ran to each member of the thirteen runners up and took a picture of them holding their awards, eventually he got to Kahili and shooed Ash and Ritchie off the podium, taking a picture of her surrounded by her team and holding her trophy, he then repeated the process for Ritchie and finally for Ash, handing the top three their pictures, he leaned next to Ash while Goodshow and Red gave a closing speech "hey I'm heading off to Johto after this so you know, don't worry about me not being able to come with you from now on I'll meet you later okay?" he looked at his watch "damn, I have to go now, tell Misty and Brock I said bye"

Ash nodded and the rest of the day went normally Ash met back up with Brock and Misty told them where Todd had gone and the group left the town as the sun was setting

"So where to next Ash?" Misty asked "because I'm not going to stop following you until I get my bike paid back" she said with a laugh

Brock sighed "And I have to take care of you two since you I think we can all say in confidence, Ash can't cook"

Ash shrugged a smile on his face as he flipped a page in his book "I don't know, I suppose we should head back to Palette for a short time to get out bearings"

"Well then, lets get going" And with that the group set off for Pallete town in sight of their next adventure

* * *

Authors corner: ITS OVER JESUS CHRIST I'm sorry this took so long, this is my longest chapter by nearly 15000 words and I'm proud of it, next chapter will be shorter and next time we're onto the Orange Isles, so for this length of the chapter can I please get some reviews, but hey if you don't want to you don't have to. See you next time


	11. Chapter 11

Authors Corner: Well we're past Kanto... technically, is the Orange Archipelago a part of Kanto? ahh who knows all I know is that I should be playing Breath of The Wild right now, but I'm writing this because I love you or something, anyways onto the show!

* * *

Ash, Brock, Misty and an assorted amount of pokemon were currently on the way back to Pallet Town, having left the Indigo Plateau late at night the group was currently camping around the forests surrounding Pallet

"It's still so weird to think" Ash muttered looking at the card Goodshow had given him "We genuinely won a conference"

"Well think it" Pidgeot said, pausing as an explosion rocketed the clearing the group was camping in before a small fountain of water fell on Ash from where Misty was training with her water types starting to take being a Water Type Master seriously "we won and I'm sure that we'll have lots more adventures you're not going to quit just because you won right?"

Ash shook his head "Of course I'm not going to quit, just wondering what comes next"

Butterfree yawned "next comes sleep for me, good night" Butterfree flew up to a tree and perched in it sleeping

Brock looked at Ash worried "Alright Ash what's on your mind you seem conflicted"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Don't know what to do now that I won a conference I want to keep adventuring with you and Misty but I'm not sure where to go"

Brock shrugged "Maybe you need a holiday, I've heard the Orange Archipelago is nice this time of year and you barely use your winnings money you're probably loaded"

Ash considered this and flipped a page in his book "You know that does sound nice" a flash of light erupted through the clearing, Brock and Ash looked over to the lake where Misty was training, when the light died down in the lake was a Seadra with a black spot around one eye, Misty's Horsea had evolved

Misty looked to Seadra, eyes wide and smiling "Seadra that's ama-" she was cut off by a second flash of light from her right, where Psyduck was, well fighting was a strong word more of being a punching back for Seel and when the light died down in place of Psyduck was a Golduck, who shook his head looking around confused as the eternal headache plaguing his life was removed "Wow and you too Golduck that's gre-" and for a third time she was cut off by Seel who was evolving into a Dewgong, Misty looked around for a few seconds "is that all of you done evolving? Okay great! All of you amazing work"

Brock smiled and turned back to Ash "See everyone's working hard a holiday would be nice"

Ash nodded and yawned himself flipping a page in his book "Yeah, after we get back to Pallet lets get a holiday, for now I'm going to sleep though make sure Misty doesn't drown herself training" And with that Ash put down his book and propped himself against a tree to sleep as he usual did

soon Misty retired to her tent and eventually Brock did too and the group set off in the morning, arriving at Pallete early on arriving at Professor Oak's lab Brock taking the lead and knocking on the door

"Coming!" Oak's voice said from inside the lab the door opened revealing the professor "Ah Brock! And Ash and Misty to come in come in" Ash walked in with his friends sitting down around the table in the middle of the room, after the group was in Oak shut the door and sat down around the table as well "It's good that you are here, I know you just won a Conference and would probably like to relax but Ash I have a favour"

Ash rolled his hand hesitantly for Oak to continue "I need your help collecting something from a colleague of mine, Professor Ivy who works in the Orange Archipelago I would've ask Gary but I can't find him its like he's disappeared off the earth" Oak sighed "Please Ash I've already got tickets for you to go to the Orange Archipelago and this is urgent"

Ash leaned back in his chair sighing, Brock laughed and Misty grinned, Ash leaned back forwards and flipped a page in his book "of course, we were planing on heading to the Orange Archipelago anyway for a holiday, I guess we don't need to pay now though"

Oak looked at the group surprised "Well that's just convenient isn't it? the blimp leaves from Celadon City in a few hours so you may want to make your way there soon"

"We can just teleport to the Orange Archipelago at any time" Mewtwo pointed out "why does everyone forget that?"

"Because" Clefable said "that would make the journey boring"

"She has a good point" Ash said "Half the fun of getting badges is actually walking there, even if this isn't for a badge it takes away some of the fun"

Mewtwo sighed "At least let me teleport everyone to Celadon?"

Ash shrugged "alright that would save some time I guess"

so the group relaxed for the next few hours, Ash caught up with the professor and eventually Delilah when she came to visit Oak, eventually Brock noted the time and the group had Mewtwo teleport them to Celadon and eventually the group got on a blimp headed to the Orange Archipelago or more specifically Valencia Island, unbeknownst to them Team Rocket had been following them the whole way and had somehow acquired a magikarp submarine to follow them in and even more so the jigglypuff that had been following them for ages was also somewhere on the blimp

Eventually the group arrived on Valencia and were outside Professor Ivy's house, Brock had decided to stay outside to observe the pokemon on the island and how they differed from the ones in Kanto in order to help his breeder career while Ash and Misty headed into the lab

the two trainers and their pokemon walked into the lab, which turned out to be empty with multiple machines scattered throughout the room

"Did the professor not tell this Professor Ivy we were coming?" Misty asked looking around the room baffled "there's no one here!"

A hatch opened on the floor, which somehow none of the pokemon or the human in the room had noticed and three girls with odd hair styles glasses and an alolan style shirt on looked at Ash and Misty "Are you here for Professor Ivy?" one of them asked

Ash nodded and flipped a page in her book "You know where she is?"

a different one of them nodded "Yes we are her assistants she should be down at the beach we'll take her to her" the three near identical girls climbed out the hatch they were gathered in and took off running out the room, leaving our heroes to follow eventually the group ended up down at a beach "Professor Ivy!" one of them yelled out across the ocean, then a gyarados appeared out of the ocean, then a woman wearing a swimsuit and with messy purple hair jumped off and landed on the beach

"Flashy entrance" Ash commented before flipping a page in his book "You are Professor Ivy?"

the woman nodded "yes, you must be the kid the tree told me about come on back to my lab" Ivy led the group back to the lab again "So here's the deal" she explained picking up a golden and silver pokemon from a table Misty and Ash hadn't noticed before "this thing is called the GS ball its made from the wings of the legendary birds of Johto we can't open it nor transport it I want you to take it to Oak capiche?"

Misty raised an eyebrow taking the pokeball from Ivy "Isn't this the thing Brycen used to control Celebi a few years ago?"

Ivy waved her off "same idea of the pokeball but a different one thats why I need someone to take it to Oak"

Ash shrugged looking at the ball Misty was holding and flipped a page in his book "We can, but can you tell Professor Oak we'll be a while since we're taking a holiday here in the Orange Islands"

Ivy nodded "of course, I would recommend going to Tangelo Island first its a nice place" Ash and Misty left waving as they returned to Brock who was carefully studying a Vileplume who had a different coloured flower

"How'd it go?" Brock asked seeing the two approaching him, the Vileplume ran seeing the others and Brock sighed "Did you get what we needed from Professor Ivy and can we start our vacation"

Misty nodded clutching the GS ball "Yeah, I can see why Oak needed us to take it" she sighed "brings back bad memories though"

Ash flipped a page raising an eyebrow "how so?"

Brock shook his head "bad things a few years ago, essentially someone tried to rewrite time"

Oricorio winced "that can not have been good"

 **MEANWHILE AFTER TWO CHAPTERS FINALLY WE ARE BACK TO THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

"I cannot believe you did that last chapter" Articuno sighed "if he hadn't gone to the Orange Archipelago we would be in so much trouble"

Zapdos flew into the hall the two birds and Lugia were in "What'd I miss? I had to deal with some trainers in Kalos

"This one" Lugia gestured towards Moltres, somehow "has basically confirmed to Ash that we're next in line for his legendary encounters"

Zapdos face paled "Oh we're doomed our region is so out of the way we live in Kanto and Johto!"

"Don't worry about it!" Moltres cawed waving a wing "Ash is going to the Orange Isles now it's all good we are definitely next up no one else lives there"

Lugia groaned "tell me about it, I have to manage things in Johto just to have a job because you three became all buddy buddy"

 **AFTER THAT GENERALLY BORING AND USELESS INTERLUDE BACK WITH OUR HEROES**

"Good thing we got this boat" Clefable said looking around the ocean "nice of Ivy to lend it to us"

"Yeah but how do we return it after we get to Tangelo" Ivysaur pointed out "this is a major flaw in this plan"

Ash's face paled "uh that's a good point how DO we return this?"

"Teleportation" Mew pointed out "fixes all your problems"

"Except for that time you managed to teleport yourself into a wall" Mewtwo pointed out "that one took ages to fix"

Pidgeot looked confused "but I thought you two didn't know each other before the incident on that island"

"it's called New Island" Mew pointed out

Pidgeot nodded slowly, trying to keep Oricorio on her head "but how do you two seem to know each other so well"

Mewtwo laughed awkwardly "well you see"

"BROCK!" Misty suddenly yelled startling Togepi and Squirtle looking out the front of the boat "Left look"

Brock, who was piloting the boat, looked where Misty had directed him to, seeing a group of three boys around a small pond with a Lapras in it, seemingly beating it with sticks, Brock steered the boat a hard left lining up to the beach

"This is taking to long!" Misty yelled putting down Togepi and Squirtle, before she dived off the boat for some reason surfacing in the water swimming to the beach to try and stop the boys

"Ash you remember how you take on the characteristics of a pokemon when you use your illusions and how we forgot about that? well now is good time to remember that go help!" Pikachu reminded Ash, the latter nodded taking off his hat before jumping into the water turning into a Buizel in the water, Charizard launched off the boat following Ash from the Sky while Blastoise jumped in the water after Ash, after a short swim Ash had caught up to Misty on the beach and had changed back to human

Misty ran towards the boys Ash in tow while Charizard flew above and Blastoise swam alongside, Brock struggling to get the boat on the island

"Hey you!" Misty yelled at the boys, the three turned revealing one of them having a pomadore haircut and sunglasses on, another with green hair and an orange shirt and the final with a white bandanna on "what do you think you're doing to that Lapras"

"Simple!" the one green hair said "we need a Lapras so we can get around the islands to fight the orange crew! so we're getting it to move"

Misty looked at the group incredulous, while Brock ran up to the group Ash's pokemon in tow carrying Togepi and Squirtle on his shoulders and a pokeball of his own in hand "You're abusing it" Misty said still looking shocked "hitting it with sticks won't get it to move making friends and catching it in a fair fight will"

The one with a pompadour raised an eyebrow "So you disagree with us you want a fight?" the boy threw out a pokeball revealing a Spearow who cried, the other two boys scurried throwing their own pokemon a Beedrill and a Hitmonchan

Charizard landed seeing the fight, Misty threw a pokeball from her belt revealing Golduck who after evolving had become a much more serious fighter and Brock threw his own pokeball revealing a Kabutops

"I didn't know you got a Kabutops Brock" Misty mused turning her attention to the battle that was about to start

Brock grinned "While I am a breeder I do need to do some work" he turned his attention to the battle as well "Now Kabutops-"

"Wait!" a tall boy looking around Brock's age ran out from a bush, wearing a green tank top and red shorts a headband keeping his hair from falling in his face clutching a notepad "you don't stand a chance" he looked to the three boys that were abusing the Lapras "look at your pokemon" he pointed at the boy with a pompadour "your Spearow is vitamin-deficient look at its wings." he was right the Spearows wings were falling by its side and looked broken You" he pointed at the boy with green hair "your Hitmonchan doesn't have nearly enough exercise its panting just standing there" he was once again right with Hitmonchan panting "and you" he pointed at the boy with a white bandana on "Beedrill's colour is poor at best it needs medicine" and the boy was once again right Beedrill's fur was a faint yellow and black "as opposed to these three" he gestured to Brock, Misty and Ash "Charizard's tail flame is burning bright and healthy! Kabutops blades are sharp as knives a sign of its health and the gem in Golduck's head is sparkling in the sun once again its healthy"

the boy with a bandana scoffed "please our pokemon are extremely strong you wuss! now get out of our battlefield"

the boy in a green shirt sighed backing out the way of the crossfire sitting down on the beach while the 'battle' started, one flamethrower one Water Pulse and one Ancient Power and the boys pokemon were knocked out, they quickly recalled them and ran away

"Here" the boy threw a bag to Ash who caught it "it's medicine for Lapras I'll go get Nurse Joy" the boy ran off assumingly to the Pokecentre of the island

Ash slowly approached the Lapras with the medicine, but when he got close Lapras slapped the medicine out of his hand looking scared, Pikachu jumped and caught the medicine while Ash quickly backed away

the three exchanged looks of worry while the boy returned with a Nurse Joy in tow, somehow Brock held back confessing his love to the Nurse with the serious air of the situation

The Nurse looked over Lapras, backing away when it seemed scared, after her examination she turned to the group "this Lapras will be okay it needs a rest but it seems to be scared of humans, if what this boy said is true three boys were abusing it to challenge the Orange Crew right?"

the boy brought a hand to chin in thought "it's only young, it must've been separated from its pod during that storm a few weeks ago" he then turned to Ash and his friends "sorry if I hurried with introductions I'm Tracey a pokemon watcher" Brock, Misty and Ash made their introductions and turned back to the Lapras

"Someone needs to keep watch of it until it trusts humans enough for us to take it to the ocean" Misty said with a sigh while the Nurse left seeing her work concluded "but if it doesn't trust humans who"

Brock looked down thoughtfully "we could get Oak's advice on this"

Tracey looked surprised at this "you know Professor Oak?"

Ash nodded flipping a page "I'm a trainer from him, we're on holiday here"

"Well while this may not be the best time, is it alright if I join you on your journey so I can meet him he's been an idol of mine" Tracey asked

Brock and Misty looked at Ash who considered this for a minute before nodding and flipping a page in his book "of course, but for now we need to help Lapras"

Brock looked up at the sky, the sun was setting "well if we want some sleep tonight someone's going to need to stay up to watch Lapras"

"I will!" Misty said a look of determination on her face "I will stay up all night if I have to I can't let a water type pokemon be traumatised by some idiots with sticks"

the group nodded, retiring to sleep, Ash sleeping propped against a tree as usual Brock and Tracey in sleeping bags on the beach deciding the tent was to warm for the atmosphere

"I'm so sorry for the others" Misty said sadly after a few hours of watching Lapras, the Lapras looked up at her still wary "for the boys I mean, it's horrible how they abused you just because you didn't want to be caught by them, and after you got seperated from your pod" the Lapras slowly started swimming closer to Misty who was sitting on the edge of the pond "I know you may not trust me but I will stay up all night if I have to to make sure those boys don't come back" Lapras swam closer to Misty their expression softening, Misty started smiling seeing Lapras approach "I hope we can get you back to your pod, if I have to I will travel around the earth to help you"

unbeknownst to Misty and Lapras Team Rocket with the Magikarp Sub they had somehow acquired was nearby, and about to surface

"Prepare for trouble!" Misty immediately had two pokeballs in hand, waiting for Team Rocket to finish their motto since she had to admit it was kinda fun

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation"

"to unite all peoples within our nation"

"To extend our reach to the stars above"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight"

"Meowth thats right"

James held up a Growlithe he had in his arms "and Growlie!"

Misty rolled her eyes "look I like the motto and usually I would be up for this song and dance but I am trying to help a traumatised pokemon here" she threw the two pokeballs revealing Staryu and Starmie

"Okay then bye!" James said hurriedly climbing back into the submarine "she's angry Jessie we need to leave... please"

Jessie grabbed Meowth and jumped into the sub aswell, quickly leaving

Misty turned back to Lapras sighing and returning Staryu and Starmie "I know what you're thinking, they're pokemon thieves that have been following us they're worthless though its laughable" Lapras swam right up to Misty as she sat down and nuzzled against her cheek "I guess you're not really scared of me anymore then huh" she laughed a bit

the night went on with Misty and Lapras bonding, eventually ending when Lapras decided to come with Misty in order to find his pod

and soon enough everyone was up

Brock looked around confused being the first to wake up walking to Misty "what happened to Lapras"

Misty held up a pokeball "he decided to come with us, in order to find his pod Tracey was right"

the two talked while Tracey and Ash got up

"So what next?" Tracey asked "what was your plan I mean"

Ash flipped a page in his book "we were planning on heading around the islands for a month or two as a holiday before heading back to Pallette to give Oak a delivery" he flipped another page "though Tracey I have a question what's the Orange Crew?"

Tracey looked surprised "you don't know?" Ash shook his head "oh, well its kind of like a miniature league you take on four gyms before fighting their leader Drake"

Brock looked at Ash hearing this "you going to try this Ash?"

Ash looked at his pokemon "does anyone really want to do another gym circuit so soon?" Ash's pokemon collectively shook their heads, this was their holiday and so Ash shook his head to Brock

"But I will!" Misty said suddenly causing the group to look at her "I want to be a Water Type Master so what better way to test myself then to fight the Orange Crew with only water types I can prove to my sisters this wasn't in vain"

Brock smiled "that's a great idea Misty, so Tracey where's the first Gym Leader"

Tracey took a map out of a pocket and opened it examining it "the closest to us is on Mikan Island, but how will we get their?"

Misty grinned holding a pokeball "Ash may I borrow your pokedex briefly?" Ash raised an eyebrow but gave Misty his pokedex anyway

Misty threw the pokeball revealing Lapras in the sea who cried happily before scanning him with Ash's pokedex

"Lapras. Lapras are extremely rare pokemon being hunted nearly to extinction they are docile creatures and prefer ferrying people across water rather than fighting, even young Lapras have been seen carrying four people across the waves"

Misty handed Ash back his pokedex grinning "four people is just what we need, heck if Charizard flies and Blastoise swims he can even carry your pokemon Ash"

Brock grinned "well then lets get going!"

the group climbed on Lapras and set out, for the sight of Misty's first gym badge at Mikan Island and after several days of traveling and stopping at islands the group was nearing the island

"hey Brock I've been meaning to Ask" Tracey said currently drawing Charizard flying behind them, he had explained a few days ago to Ash's group of friends that he draws pokemon in order to remember them rather than using a pokedex "Ash's mute right? thats why he uses that book" Brock nodded "then how come he's seemingly able to talk to his pokemon, he's managed to translate Lapras for us and seems to have conversations with him"

"oh that" Brock said quickly "well Ash is got an odd way of being mute, his voice is at such a pitch humans can't hear it and so he spent lots of time around pokemon when he was young so he learned to understand them"

Tracey looked taken aback "huh that's odd to say the least" he turned back to Charizard to continue drawing

Ash elbowed Brock in the back, Brock turned to him while Ash flipped a page in his book "you're a worse liar than Yellow"

"Land ahead!" Misty yelled pointing ahead from her spot right by Lapras neck "Tracey is that it?"

Tracey put his book in his backpack and looked over at the island "that's it alright"

the group sighed a sigh of relief, they were running low on supplies the last few islands had been deserted, Misty gave Lapras directions and soon they were landed on the island Misty returning Lapras and heading to the path towards the gym which was conveniently nearby the place where the group had landed looking like a barn more than a gym

"Hey a coconut tree" Brock pointed out, towards a tree that did infact have coconuts on it and one on the ground "would be nice to get some for the journey"

"I'll get it!" Mew said happily picking the coconut up with psychic and bringing it over taking a bucket of water with it somehow "A free bucket as well great!"

Oricorio raised a wing "I don't think you can just take buckets like that"

A boy with black spikey hair looked out from around the tree "You took my bucket and stopped my joke!"

"Senta what are you doing?" A girl walked out of the nearby barn gym "are those challengers? you're making the gym look bad"

"That's Cissy" Tracey said as the girl walked over to reprimand the boy, identified as Senta, "She's probably the strongest trainer in the Orange Crew, she specializes in Water Types and her rules of the gym state her challengers must also use them"

Misty grinned "that's great for me then"

Cissy walked over to Ash's group "so which one of you is here to challenge me, and I'm sorry for my brother he thinks no one is allowed to challenge me for some reason"

Misty raised a hand and walked up to be next to Cissy "I'm here to challenge you"

Cissy walked towards the barn gym and beckoned Misty to follow, which she did the male trainers and watcher in tow

Ash groaned eyes widening in realisation "Mewtwo you took the boat back right?"

Mewtwo nodded "of course"

"And my hat was on it I didn't pick it up" he sighed looking up at his hair "it was the only piece of legitimate clothing I own"

"I can go grab it if you want, it's only one teleport away" Mew said doing flips

Ash considered this as Cissy led the group into the gym "I think I'll be good without on the Archipelago it's kinda hot out here anyway"

"Welcome to my gym!" Cissy said dramatically gesturing to the gym, which was really only a pool surrounded by dirt with one wall carved out to house plates and cans "so instead of some gyms we use different types of Gym Battles in the Orange Crew for my challenge it's a game of accuracy you need to have a pokemon that knows water gun first of so, do you have one?"

Misty threw a pokeball revealing Golduck "Yeah Golduck and I have been working on it for a while now" Golduck promptly jumped in the pool, Psychic powers helped with quickly understanding the situation

"Good!" Cissy threw her own pokeball revealing a Seadra into the pool "so as you may have noticed the cans and plates on the wall the goal is to shoot them with water gun whoever hits more wins, ready?" Misty nodded "Begin!"

the two pokemon started firing water guns left and right, Tracey struggling to keep count though it seemed like Cissy was counting each one until there was only one plate left, the two pokemon fired at it at the same time, Golducks eyes glowed blue and Seadra's attack was stopped Golduck's hitting dead on

"End!" Cissy called "you won Misty, thirty to thirty one, though I'm not much of a fan of that way of beating me it's allowed" she walked around the pool next to Misty holding something in her hand she presented it to Misty it was a badge in the shape of a small clamshell with a blue gemstone in the middle "this is the Coral Eye Badge, if you get the other three of the Orange Archipelago you can challenge our champion though I'm sure you know that, good luck with the rest"

Misty took the badge and retreated "where to next Tracey!"

Tracey took out his map "Navel Island is a decent way away but it's got a few islands I wanted to visit on the way if thats okay" he leaned over to Brock "is this how Ash was when he was getting gym badges?"

Brock laughed "you get used to it, Misty really wants to prove herself"

"You can say that again"

* * *

Authors Corner: SURPRISE! Misty is going to be taking the Orange Crew on not Ash! Also she's getting Lapras since it just seemed to work, one badge down meaning five chapters left in the Orange Islands with Power Of One and all, in other news yes Brock is staying with the group for the islands and Tracey will be sticking with Ash after the archipelago meaning all of Ash's traveling companions will be sticking around after they're ment to leave! but for now I'm going to go play BoTW and take a break from writing for... an hour


	12. Chapter 12

Authors Corner: And welcome back to another episode of the Sevii Islan... I mean Orange Islands!... except this isn't episodes it's chapters... in other news I managed to catch a Shiny Dratini and am currently on a hype high

* * *

And for the first time instead of finding our heroes on the road to Ash's next gym badge we find them on the sea journeying towards Misty's second gym badge! an island in sight the group was planning on stopping by to pick up some food for the road

"Wait!" Mew called alarm in their voice, eyes glowing blue holding Lapras in place "don't get further to that island"

Mewtwo looked at Mew confused before flinching "ah I see what you mean, but you can drop Lapras now"

Mew without thinking had accidently started levitating the entire group into the air, dropping them back into the ocean, Misty fell of Lapras from the impact and Brock and Tracey barely stayed on, the group climbing back on

"Why shouldn't we get closer to that island" Brock asked struggling to stay on Lapras even after climbing back "also could you be more gentle next time"

Mewtwo floated slightly closer to the island, the three flying pokemon hovered down next to Lapras to listen in on the conversation "there's intense psychic waves coming from the island, it could hypnotise pokemon and by the feel of it that's what they are trying to do we need one trainer and either Mew or I to go with them to the island"

Misty raised a skeptical eyebrow "why aren't you two effected by the psychic waves?"

"they're trying to mind control legendary psychic pokemon" Tracey pointed out "that's like trying to drown a water type"

Mew nodded "She's right! So who's going with who?"

"I'll go" Brock volunteered "If it comes down to a fight we can teleport out and get support, Mew could you come with me"

"Of course!" Mew said "I'll teleport us there now!" and with that and a flash of light Brock and Mew were gone from Lapras back

meanwhile on the island Jessie and James were looking for the source of the psychic waves as well

"I can't believe this happened" James lamented holding back tears "I just wanted to stop on the island for a fire stone and now Growlie and Meowth are gone"

"Well quite it!" Jessie snapped "if we follow Meowth's tracks we're sure to find them both right?"

James sighed "I know, it's just after so long of not seeing Growlie I don't want to lose him again"

Jessie patted James on the back "I know I'm sorry for yelling it's stressful you know"

James held back tears "thank you Jessie" the two continued through the forest they were in following the tracks

Brock looked to Mew "do you have any idea where the psychic waves are coming from"

Mew's eyes glowed for a second before they fired a small ice beam in a direction towards a forest "that general direction"

Brock started walking "got it, hopefully we should be able to stop those waves"

the two started running through the forest, eventually running into something and falling to the ground, Mew however hovering just watched amused

"Ack!" A voice cried "come on what now" Brock scrambled to his feet looking at what he ran into, it was Jessie and James "Ah it's the rock twerp!" James yelled scrambling to his own feet, Jessie just behind him

"what are you here for" Jessie yelled aggressively

"I can ask you the same thing" Brock countered "are you the source of the psychic waves!"

James looked lost "psychic waves? we were here for a Fire Stone when Meowth and Growlie attacked us and ran off we're following their tracks" James pointed to the Meowth and Growlithe shaped footprints behind Brock

"are you the source of Meowth and Growlie ditching us!" Jessie yelled angrily "your pokemon isn't being controlled"

"I'm a psychic type legendary I can fight the waves off, we're looking for the source of them" Mew said happily doing flips "we are going to stop them"

Brock held out a hand "look we're trying to do the same thing, we should work together temporarily to stop this"

Jessie accepted the handshake "only until we get Meowth back then we're enemies again" she said bitterly

"let's keep following the tracks then" James said "it can lead us to them right" the group continued following the tracks, eventually ending up outside a large warehouse where the tracks stopped "in here then" James said nervously opening the doors

the doors opened shining light into the room, revealing a man with green hair and woman with yellow, they turned around revealing themselves to have a black Team Rocket Uniform

"who are they?" Brock asked looking at the other rockets skeptically

"They're Cassidy and Biff" James said

"It's Butch!" the green haired man yelled "Butch dammit"

"They are other Team Rocket members" James continued ignoring Biff "are you the source of Meowth and Growlie going rouge!"

"so what if we are!" Cassidy said "what are you going to do, we have all the pokemon under our control with this" a Drowzie stepped out from behind a machine, lots of pokemon including Meowth and Growlie behind him

Brock nodded "so the Drowzie is controlling them" Brock said brow furrowed "Mew Dark Pulse the Drowzie only be accurate" Mew brought their hands together a spark of black energy appearing, before firing a concentrated chain of black and purple at the Drowzie knocking it out, the pokemon behind him blinked, most of them running off except for Growlie who ran up to James and tackled him licking his face and Meowth who looked confused

"wha just happened?" Meowth said before noticing Cassidy and Bill "it's their fault ain't it?"

James stood up "it is! Growlie flamethrower Cassidy and Botch"

"It's Butch!" Bob said before a blast of fire blasted him and Cassidy off

Jessie looked at them go happily "wow that is satisfying"

"well" Brock said "I better go now before you try kidnapping me or something"

"Got it!" Mew said, before teleporting Brock and themselves back to Lapras Brock gave the group a thumb up after he teleported and the group set off, for approximately an hour before being interrupted by a bottle hitting Lapras side

Misty noticed it first leaning down to pick it up noticing a letter in it "Hey guys look" she uncorked the bottle "If you know anything about a Pokémon called the Crystal Onix, let me know right away, come to Sunburst Island" she read out loud before looking to the group "who's up for an adventure"

Ash raised his hand and Tracey took his map out of his pocket unfurling it "Sunburst Island is a bit back near Mikan it's apparently famous for its glassblowing" Tracey mused

"Let's do it!" Misty called relaying the information to Lapras who turned and started speeding back to Sunburst Island, eventually the group arrived clambered off Lapras Misty returned him and they looked around

Pidgeot sighed "that letter didn't state where we had to go did it?"

Clefable shook her head "that's kind of an oversight if you think about it isn't it?"

Ash waved to call everyone over and flipped a page in his book "any idea where we need to go?"

"Are you here for the letter?" a young man with a blue and yellow striped shirt climbed out from the trees surrounding the area "did you read my letter?" he once again asked "about the Onix"

Tracey snapped his fingers "the Crystal Onix right?"

the young man nodded "yes, follow me I'll explain" he led them through the forest, to a small shack and into it with glass sculptures dotted around the shelves "so the Crystal Onix is something my grandfather found it was apparently an onix that was see through like crystal but no one believed him despite it influencing his work as a glassblower, I'm a lackluster glassblower and I want to find it as well to do get inspiration"

Ash nodded slowly flipping a page "So you want our help finding it so you can get inspiration"

the man grinned "yeah, sorry if it's to much to ask but this is the only way to keep my business afloat"

Tracey waved him off taking a pokeball out of his bag "we can help right?" the group nodded "alright then!" Tracey threw the pokeball revealing a Venonat, Tracey turned back to the man "do you have anything that could look like the Onix?"

the young man nodded walking over to one of the shelves taking off a glass onix surrounded by rocks "this is what my grandfather made after finding it"

Tracey gently took the model and showed it to Venonat "can you find this, Venonat?" Venonat looked at the glass for a second before starting to run out the building, Tracey handed to model back and took off after Venonat "he's found something"

Ash, Misty, Brock and the man followed Tracey eventually arriving in front of stones that looked like an onix

Tracey sighed "that's not it, but good job Venonat" he returned Venonat putting his bag on the ground taking out a machine that looked like a Hoenn Pokedex tapping some buttons quickly, he then turned back to his bag throwing a second pokeball revealing a Marill before tapping another button on the pokedex showing it to Marill when it played a recording of an onix cry, Marill listened for a second than ran off "she's found an onix atleast"

the group followed Marill who lead them through a cave and into a small lake, Marill jumped in for a second before coming back out soon followed by an onix, not just any onix but one that sparkled like crystal

the man looked at it wonder in his eyes before grabbing a pokeball "Onix are weak to water, Cloyster!" the man threw out the pokeball revealing a Cloyster, that promptly got tail slapped into a wall by onix "oh.." the man returned Cloyster staring at the onix "it was in water, Charmeleon" he threw a second pokeball a Charmeleon appeared, not wasting time in attack the Onix with a Firespin, afterwards the man stared at the Onix who a second later fainted

Brock looked around confused "so it's weak to fire type moves? I'm confused"

Ash flipped a page in his book "I'm more confused on what just happened, it seems like Tracey just did everything"

Misty shrugged "oh well, that was enjoyable I guess"

the man after a seemingly internal struggle walked away from the onix returning Charmeleon "thank you, all of you you've been a great help thank you, from the bottom of my heart thank you"

the group left the island later after a short conversation returning to the sea towards Navel Island and after a short time of sailing and stopping on islands for supplies and to rest two weeks later they were there

Misty looked to Tracey as the group approached the island "that it?"

Tracey put his sketch book back in his pack taking out the map looking at it comparing their place in the ocean to the island "That's it!" he said finally

a sigh of relief went over the group, even from the pokemon, Ash flipped a page "I was worried we would be on the ocean forever it's been what two days since the last island?"

"Three" Brock corrected "doesn't make it much better though"

the group landed on the island, Misty returning Lapras "so where do we go?" Misty asked looking around "I can't see the gym anywhere"

the group looked around the beach for a while before being approached by a man "are you here for the gym too?"

Misty nodded "yes do you know the way?"

"Yes, I'm Danny follow me"

the group followed Danny who lead them to a giant mountain that was piercing the sky, honestly its more surprising none of the group noticed it, and to a gate which led to a small shack next to the mountain

Danny pointed at a cable car "the challenge takes place on top of the mountain I've heard"

Misty let out a breath of relief "thank Arceus I was thinking we would have to climb the mountain or something dumb like that"

Danny pointed to a sign next to the cable car that read "challengers must climb the mountain without the use of their pokemon"

"I hate this gym"

lots of screaming, climbing and for some reason Danny flirting with Misty later Misty and Danny reached the peak of the mountain, where Ash, Tracey and Brock were all waiting using blankets to shield themselves from the cold

"Where's the Gym Leader" Misty said panting "if he's not here I'm going to go find and drag him up this Arceus forsaken mountain"

"Ah the Gym Leader" Danny pointed dramatically at himself "is me!"

Misty looked at him a face that was a mix of rage, relief and confusion "so you made me climb that mountain after finding me"

Danny nodded "it is the test for my gym, and you are worthy of taking my challenge"

Misty sighed "can someone pass me something to warm myself with before we do this" Tracey hurriedly ran into the cable car running out a few seconds later with a blanket he passed to Misty "right" Misty said wrapping the blanket around herself "what's the challenge"

Danny directed the groups attention to two geysers "the challenge has three rounds, first to two points wins the first round is to freeze one of these geysers"

"Right" Misty said pulling a pokeball from her belt

Danny did the same "ready? the second you send out your pokemon we're going to start" Misty nodded "Go!" Misty sent out Lapras and Danny sent out a Nidoqueen, after a quick psychic explanation Lapras started freezing the geyser and Danny's Nidoqueen did the same the race was neck and neck until the end with Danny taking the victory, Lapras finishing a second later looking exhausted

"okay" Danny said "that's one point to me ready for the second round"

Misty sighed recalling Lapras "alright what's round two then"

Danny recalled Nidoqueen "for the second round you will choose three of your pokemon to carve the ice block from the geysers into a sledge, whoever does it first is the victor" Danny sent out three pokemon, a Machoke, a Scyther and Nidoqueen again

Misty followed suit sending out Dewgong and oddly letting Togepi and Squirtle down from the place Togepi was in her bag and squirtle on her shoulder Misty knelt down next to her three pokemon "alright I know that you and Squirtle haven't battled before" misty said addressing Togepi and Squirtle "but I know you can do this, it isn't a battle, Togepi I want you to use ancient power to carve the bottom of the sledge is that okay?" Togepi trilled happily waving her arms causing Misty to smile "good! and Squirtle I want you to help Dewgong carve the inside using bite" Squirtle saluted causing Misty's smile to turn into a grin "amazing" she stood up turning to Danny "we're ready!"

the two teams began working on the sledge, Togepi was surprisingly good at carving and with the help of Dewgong and Squirtle the top was carved out leaving room for everyone, Misty turned to look at Danny when she had finished seeing him behind

"done!" Misty yelled causing Danny to turn in surprise

"well dang" he said impressed "that was only a few minutes you've taken this round we need a tie breaker, let my pokemon finish then we'll do it" about ten minutes later and Danny was done, he turned to Misty recalling his pokemon "now for the final round we're going to use three pokemon to race down the mountain in our sledge's so pick your pokemon"

Misty thought for a second before recalling Dewgong and sending out Golduck "this is my team, Golduck Togepi and Squirtle"

Brock looked confused at this for a second before nodding in realization "smart tactic"

Ash nodded flipping a page "Danny won't see this coming"

Tracey looked at Misty's team "ah I see"

Danny recalled Nidoqueen and Machoke sending out a Voltorb and a Geodude climbing in his sledge with them, Misty following "when the light turns green we go" Danny said gesturing to a nearby light

the two trainers looked at each other then the light waiting in anticipation, Tracey, Brock and Ash climbed into the cable car ready to follow the group down the mountain, the light turned green

Danny took off, what he wasn't expecting was to see a second later Misty's sledge flying above him Golduck's eyes glowing blue along with the sledge rocketing past him down the mountain "oh" Danny said in shock

Less then a minute later Misty was at the finish line a few minutes later the cable car arrived and finally a few seconds passed and Danny arrived

"Well" Danny said in shock "you win that's for sure I'm going to need ban that from now on but here" he held out a badge shaped like a oyster shell a green gem in the middle "you win the Sea Ruby Badge"

Misty took it returning Golduck letting Squirtle on her shoulder again and picking up Togepi "thank you, it's been an honour" she said mocking the flirting Danny had been doing, she turned to the others in her group "so next up?"

Tracey took out his map "Trovita Island is far enough away we can make some stops and still make it there within the month"

"Trovita it is then"

* * *

Authors corner: dun dun dun dun another one bites the dust and by one I mean gym leader we are two chapters down the Orange Archipelago so four left! Until next time


	13. Chapter 13

Authors Corner: So welcome back. Last chapter I did get a review asking why Ash didn't go onto the island to stop Cassidy and Butch since he would be immune to the psychic waves, my in universe reason is that Brock volunteered before Ash also Ash was worried of Miracle Eye. My own reason was that I want everyone to be able to do atleast one thing in every chapter which is why I included those filler episodes last time, I see now that Ash kind of did nothing however so my plan from here on out is atleast one episode per chapter where everyone will have their time to shine. but enough of that on with the show

* * *

we once again find our heroes on the ocean waves riding towards Trovita island, after a few days of travel they have arrived stopping at one of the Grapefruit Islands

"who names an entire chain of islands after fruit" Misty asked looking around as they got off Lapras

Ash flipped a page in his book "who names most of the city's in a region after colours"

"good point" Misty looked to Tracey "so why are they called the Grapefruit Islands?"

Tracey looked around for a second before walking over to a tree "for these" he reached up into the tree a pulled down a large grapefruit "these are the specialty of the chain of islands"

"stop!" a girl jumped out a bush, hitting Tracey with a bat "I found you thieves"

Oricorio fluttered down off Pidgeot's head and lightly tapped Tracey "he's alive" Oricorio clarified "and conscious get up!" Oricorio slapped Tracey with his wings who quickly stumbled to his feet

"We're not thieves!" Misty said quickly "we just arrived on the island"

the girl let the bat drop to her side "oh, sorry we've been having issues with thieves around the islands taking grapefruit, we haven't been able to catch them yet"

Brock ran forward to the girl "well my beautiful we'd be happy to help in gaining you heart-" Misty grabbed Brock on pulled him back by the ear "after I recover from an injured ear"

Ash rolled his eyes flipping a page in his book "we'd be happy to help you find the thieves if you don't mind"

The girl looked surprised "sure, the names Ruby I didn't get any of yours"

"I'm Tracey" Tracey volunteered "this is Ash" he pointed to Ash "the one who poorly flirted with you was Brock and the person who dragged him away was Misty"

Ruby nodded "okay! follow me let's go find this thief" after Brock recovered from the injured ear the group set off into the forest, eventually coming to a clearing with a Snorlax eating grapefruits right off the tree's

"A snorlax?" Ruby said "please tell me it isn't"

Brock nodded "by the way its eating all the grapefruits yes, this is the thief"

"then how do we get rid of it!" Ruby yelled "Our source of income is entirely the grapefruit we have to find a way"

Brock looked down in thought for a second then snapped his fingers turning to Butterfree "Butterfree you know sleep powder right?"

Butterfree nodded "that I do"

Brock looked to Ash for confirmation, Ash nodded in response "alright, Butterfree can you use sleep powder on the Snorlax?" Butterfree took off from Ash's shoulder floating just above Snorlax before flapping his wings releasing a blue powder over Snorlax, who breathed it in then promptly fell asleep

Brock calmly walked over to Snorlax after it fell asleep and tapped a pokeball to its side capturing it "there, I can release it when we get back to Pallet with Oaks help"

"Huh how simple" Ruby said, the rest of the day was simple the group left the island after many thanks and was on the ocean again

While this adventure was going on however Jessie, James and Meowth were training on a nearby deserted island

"Alright Meowth listen here" Jessie said "we're losing money since James couldn't grab any from his house, you need to learn payday"

"But Jess" Meowth pleaded "we've been over this I can't I just can't ever since learnin' how to walk and talk"

Jessie stomped her foot impatiently "but that makes no sense! How does walking and talking stop a pokemon from learning a move the twerp leader does it"

James looked over from his training with Wheezing and Arcanine thoughtfully "maybe the idea itself is wrong?" Jessie raised an eyebrow "I mean instead of thinking of it as a move think of it as something you can do, not something you could do?"

Jessie walked over to James and put a hand on his shoulder "James I'm telling you this as a friend, that's stupid and you're stupid for saying it"

Meowth shook his head paw on his chin "no no that might work, I always thought'a it like a move to use, but when's I learnt to speak and walk I thoughts of it like something I can do not something I could"

Jessie rolled her hand at the cat "go on then, try it"

Meowth closed his eyes for a second breathing in, then he cross red his arms opening them a second later and a single coin was in his paw "I did it!" He yelled happily "it worked"

James stopped his training at a drop of a metaphorical hat, though if he was wearing a hat it would've been Moltres themed, and ran over to congratulate Meowth with a clap on the pack "you did it! Good job Meowth"

Jessie smiled happily "and that solves our money problem I guess, now let's chase those twerps and impress lord Petrel" Jessie cheered joined by Meowth and James

and now that we've had our daily allowance of Team Rocket character development we're back to our main characters with them arriving at an island on the way to Trovita

"So what's this island?" Clefable asked looking around "lots of trees, almost as many trees as rocks back at home" she laughed

Blastoise scoffed "I don't think that there's that many trees, I mean did you ever count the rocks in Mt Moon there's a lot"

Ash relayed Clefable's question to Tracey who checked his map "this is Murcott Island, apparently its home to many rare bug pokemon"

Misty's face paled "welp I'm going to stay on this beach if that's alright no bug pokemon for me thanks" Butterfree glared at her "okay apart from you, it's just I've had bad experiences with bug types before"

"Don't worry Misty" Tracey said releasing Venonat and Marill "with these two on the lookout we can avoid most bug types directly, I just want to observe some bug types for my drawings"

Misty sighed "fine if we must"

the group set off into the many forests of Murcott Tracey stopping every so often to draw a pokemon while, Misty hanging at the back looking around nervously for a majority of it carrying Togepi and Squirtle and Brock and Ash talking

while the group was walking suddenly Venonat ran forwards, Tracey with a wave of the hand signalling everyone to follow they ran into a clearing a scyther on the ground looking like it was barely breathing, Brock attempted to run forward but before he could Tracey was at its side rummaging through his bag

"come on come on" he muttered before pulling a potion with an "aha" reaching down to spray the Scyther, but before he could it jumped back taking a defence position "I'm trying to heal you you're obviously hurt" Tracey yelled

Scyther shook their head blade arms raised "there is no honour in accepting help from others" they panted barely staying on his feet

"That seems off" Ivysaur said thoughtfully "accepting help from others and admitting defeat is honourable right? we didn't really use honour in our village"

Charizard shrugged "I can respect not accepting help, you need to prove yourself sometimes!"

Ash shrugged "Hey Scyther!" he yelled at the bug still eyeing Tracey "you're basically dying and he's trying to help accept it"

Scyther shook their head again "I wont lose honour"

Tracey sighed getting the general gist "I'm sorry but we have to get you to safety, Venonat" he called over the second bug type "sleep powder" Venonat jumped forward Scyther trying to run but failed falling to the ground, Venonat shook its fur releasing a blue powder into the air that fell over Scyther who a second later after breathing it in fell asleep

Tracey walked over slowly and tapped a pokeball to Scythers side the pokeball shook twice then the familiar DING rang throughout the area, Misty shuddered involuntarily from the sight "you're not keeping Scyther right?"

Tracey shook his head "no, had to capture her in order to take her to Nurse Joy afterwards I'll release her"

Misty raised an eyebrow "how do you know they're female"

"Gender differences exist for every pokemon of you pay attention" Tracey said with a wave of a hand, using the other to pick up the pokeball "but lets get going" the group set off into the forest looking for a town that, according to Tracey, was on the island somewhere

 **MEANWHILE WITH TEAM ROCKET HIGH ABOVE THE ISLAND IN THE MEOWTH BALLOON**

"You would think a veritable army of pokemon and trainers would be easy to find with the lead twerp not using pokeballs" Jessie sighed looking over the edge of the balloon "but nooo just trees everywhere!"

James shrugged "at least we're not getting blasted off as much learning how to tactfully retreat has been helpful!"

"You mean learnin' how to run away has helped" Meowth corrected from his spot flying the balloon, while the group was distracted with their talks none of them noticed the Beedrill in front of them, not until atleast it had popped the balloon and they were crashed into the ground

"Who popped the balloon!" Jessie yelled climbing to her feet "I'll fight them!"

James shrugged pulling himself out of a tree "who knows, it won't take long to repair it though" he looked around and whistled "lots of bug types on the island though"

"huh so there are..." Meowth trailed around looking around "lotsa Scyther to" he said a forced grin on his face backing away from the Scyther that had surrounded the group walking into another "run!" the group ran out of the clearing, the Scythers in chase

 **MEANWHILE WITH THE MAIN HEROES... these transitions are getting annoying**

once again back with out main heroes they had made it to a nearby to pokecenter turning Scyther into Nurse Joy, the group had taken a position outside of the room looking into a window into the room Scyther was in, minus Misty who was outside in the main area of the center

Nurse Joy came out of the room "You're lucky you got Scyther here on time" she said relieved "any later and I dread to think what would've happened" her smile faded "however she seems to be sad and angry consistently, we can't take off the bandages while she is incase she attacks we don't know why she is so aggressive"

Brock, who had already been rejected by the nurse, looked thoughtful "I think I know why, Ash you have Oak's phone number right?" Ash nodded "good, come with me you two" Brock led the two into the main room and to the phones "Ash can you call Oak?" Ash nodded and quickly dialed the Professor's number

the phone was soon answered by Ash's clone who had a book in hand, dropping it when he saw Ash "Oh hey me what do I need?"

Ash rolled his eyes "Do you realise how dumb that sounds? Anyway can you grab Oak, Brock needs to talk to him"

Ash's clone nodded and walked out of the camera's range, Ash switched places with Brock as Oak returned "Ah Brock! What seems to be the problem"

"Well it's not really my problem" Brock said "but more of a friend we've been traveling with I'll let you talk to him"

Brock motioned for Tracey to take his place at the phone, who did nervously "Professor Oak?"

The Professor nodded "yes! You must be Tracey, Ash told me about you about a month ago what seems to be the problem?"

Tracey's face turned to a serious expression "well while we were exploring the island we're currently on we came across an injured Scyther, I had to capture her and take her to the center but she's attacking whenever the Nurse's try to help"

"hmm that does seem odd" he looked to the side ""any ideas?" he asked to the person off camera, the sound of a page flipping filling the air "hmm that does make sense actually"

"who're you talking to?" Tracey asked confused

"oh that was just Ash's" Ash was shaking his head quickly behind Tracey to Oak "twin, Ash's twin is my lab assistant" the professor laughed lightly "anyway he says it make be because Scyther was caught, and if you're on Murcott island like the number says it probably just lost leadership of its pack. I would recommend you spend time with Scyther try to calm her down and raise her self esteem" a crash went through the building and Oak sighed "that's probably Aerodactyl flying into a window again I have to go" Oak hung up the call

Tracey sighed stepping away from the phone "so I need to improve Scythers mood, how do I do that?" He asked, more to himself than anyone

Ash flipped a page "Oak said she was probably a leader of a pack right?" Tracey nodded "then why not help her train, if she's lost leadership from losing a battle help her train to win!"

"You know that sounds like a good idea" Tracey said thoughtfully "I'm going to go do just that!"

 **MEANWHILE WITH TEAM ROCKET AGAIN**

"Did did we outrun them" James asked panting looking around "I swear were running for what felt like days"

Meowth checked behind him "no scythers we lost 'em"

Jessie let out a sigh of relief "and nothing bad happened, we're getting good at tactical retreating, my hair even still looks good right?" She asked

James and Meowth looked at each other hesitantly for a second "Jess, half 'yer hair was cut off in the run" Meowth pointed out

Jessie ran her hands through her hair face turning to one of rage as she found it nearly entirely chopped off "we're going back into that forest and we're going to make those Scythers pay, okay?" She asked to the other two who nodded quickly before the group set off into the woods again

 **MEANWHILE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTERS AFTER HOURS OF VIGERIOUS OFF SCREEN TRAINING**

"I'm glad you've calmed down" Tracey sighed sitting down at the battlefield outside the pokecenter as dusk settled over the island "soon we should be able to take f your bandages and you you can go back to your swarm hopefully"

Scyther nodded "thank you for your help, you are an honourable master" Tracey Tracey turned to Ash who was sitting on the stands who relayed the message

"Hey its not problem I help anyone pokemon or human" Tracey said with a wave of his hand "though don't say master if you want I'll release you after you win the fight its no problem"

Before Scyther could respond, and force Ash to translate some more, a loud cry of a scyther rang through the area all heads turned to the place the noise had come from, all except Scyther who immediately jumped to her feet taking off into the woods wings buzzing

Misty sighed "I'm never going to say this again but, follow that bug!" The group jumped to their feet setting off into the forest after Scyther

A couple of minutes of running later and the group had made it to a lake where Scyther was having a staredown with team rocket who had a group of Scyther trapped in a cage

"Oh of course it's you" Brock sighed

Tracey looked around confused "who are...?"

"Prepare for trouble!" Oh Arceus here we go again

"And make it double"

"To protect the world from devastation"

"To unite all people's within our nation"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love"

"To extend our reach to the starts above"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth that's right!" Meowth opened his eyes paying attention to his surroundings, which were currently lots of Scyther "what how?"

Ash shrugged "while you were doing your thing we had time to, explain your who shtick to Tracey make a plan and execute it, we freed all all the Scythee and your about to be blasted off"

The Scyther lunged forward slicing at Team Rocket before a fire blast from Vulpix sent them blasting off again... twinkle

Tracey turned to the Scyther he had helped recover, only denoted by th r bandages around her chest "so I suppose I better release you now huh?"

Scyther shook her head "I wish to stay with you master, you've taught me battling then I could learn here in a lifetime"

Ash relayed message, Tracey smiled after reading it "well welcome to our team, i hope you enjoy the stay" Tracey said after a short nod from Scyther he recalled the pokemom

Misty groaned "great, a bug type my favourite"

The group left the island soon after, a few days of travel later and they had arrived on an island that from the view they got from the ocean had nothing on it

"Tracey what's the name of the island up ahead?" Misty asked looking from her spot by Lapras neck

Tracey took the map out of his pocket, starting to keep it there after being asked the question at every island, and opened it scanning the map "seems deserted" he said "no official name but apparently the fruit there is amazing"

Ash flipped a page in his book "we should stop there, have a day off from all the adventure"

The group thought of this for a second "you know I would be down for that taking a break seems nice" Misty said with a yawn "and its not like we're on a time limit"

"We are" Brock pointed out "we said we would deliver the GS ball by at least the end of next month, but that is a long time away so I agree we can take a day off"

Tracey shrugged "I guess it would be nice"

The group docked on the island soon, all releasing their various pokemon

Brock's Aerodactyl yawned after being released "am I needed?" He asked to no one in particular "if not can I nap please?" With no objections being raised from the mainly pokemon in the group Aerodactyl went to a nearby tree and fell asleep under it

"Well I say why have we all been sent out?" Vulpix asked looking around

"We're taking a day off thought everyone would want to join in" Mew said happily "I for one approve!"

Mewtwo rolled his eyes "I for one would prefer to be reading"

"Oh don't be like that Two!" Mew said "c'mon we can go explore the island like old times"

Mewtwo shook his head "fine let's go" the two psychics set off flying into the nearby jungle

"Well that happened quite quickly didn't it?" Kabutops said looking around the island thoughtfully "who wants to go climb that mountain with me?" they gestured to a nearby mountain with a scythe

"Sure why not" Onix grumbled, the two set off to the nearby mountain, Zubat chattered in agreement, at least that's the group assumed since she perched on top Kabutops head

"Wow everyone just leaves straight away I guess" Brock mused looking at the two remaining pokemon, Geodude and Vulpix "would you two mind helping me set up a place to cook later?" Snorlax however never even woke up after being released

Geodude wordlessly saluted, and Vulpix nodded hopping to Brock's side

Misty looked amused at the situation "well if no one minds I'm going to head to the beach for a swim with my pokemon" with no objections Misty walked down the coast slightly releasing her pokemon

"Wow" Ash mused "you get a day off and half of your friends decide to go do their own thing"

Blastoise shrugged "eh I'm down for some exploring myself, who wants to go into a forest?" He asked the rest of Ash's pokemon who all volunteered "well see you later Ash!" The group set off into the forest

Tracey sat down looking across the ocean pulling out his sketch pad idly flicking through it glancing down every so often before starting to draw his pokemon staying near the area

Meanwhile on the other side of the island, Team Rocket had started relaxing along the beach as well "ah its nice to get some time in the sun" Jessie said happily "away from twerps"

"These are 'da type of things we can do with payday" Meowth sighed "no more days wasted chasin' twerps for cash"

James was about to chime in when he noticed the two psychic cats floating along the beach towards "I don't mean to be the one using rain dance on our parade but aren't those two with the twerps?" James said nervously pointing in the direction of Mew and Mewtwo

Jessie looked to where James was pointing and groaned "you'll never catch me saying this again" she sighed laying down in the sand "but lets ignore them for today, its our holiday as well"

"Well said!" Meowth chimed in "now if I'm correct we have some beach chairs in the magikarp sub"

Meanwhile on the nearby mountain of the island we find a fossil pokemon and a rock snake making their way up the mountain

"Now this is life" Kabutops yelled digging a scythe into the side of the mountain to hoist himself up "climbing mountains on a tropical island, how many pokemon can say that?"

Onix looked up, having decided to dig through the snow to talk with Kabutos and Zubat "If I was to guess, maybe ten, twelve if you're lucky"

Zubat chattered "yeah I agree with the bat" Kabutops said "where'd you pull that number from? Distortion world?"

Onix stopped turning to Kabutops "hold on, you can understand Zubat?" Kabutops nodded "this whole time?" Kabutops nodded again matter of factly "and you told none of us?"

Kabutops shrugged as best as he could with a scythe buried in a mountain "never seemed important" before Onix could reply Kabutops hoisted himself up again "hey! We're at the peak" he fully pushed himself up to the top, Onix following behind

The three looked out over the world, well Kabutops and Onix did anyway, Zubat couldn't see

"Its beautiful" Onix said in disbelief "you can see the entire island, even further than that you can see the ocean for miles, its almost symbolic in a sense this tiny mass of land surrounded by miles and miles of water a tiny speck in the sea of life"

Kabutops rolled a scythe "yeah yeah it's beautiful and you're a philosophical Arceus in the making" he looked down the mountain "but that is a steep cliff"

Zubat chartered excitedly on his head

"Actually yeah that's a great idea!" Kabutops said cutting off a part of the mountain with a scythe carefully placing it on the ground next to the cliff "Onix if you need us we'll be snowboarding down a mountain"

"You can snowboard"

"Of course not" with that Kabutops jumped on the rock snowboard and pushed off down the mountain, Zubat on his head yelling as he went sliding down

Meanwhile Mew and Mewtwo had passed by Team Rocket and were still floating around the island

"This seems to have lost its charm in the year since we last explored" Mewtwo said glancing around slowly

"I think it's because we're taking this on to small of a scale" Mew said thoughtfully "last time we did this we went back over Hoenn right?"

"Indeed it was much more grand when it was an entire region rather then a rather small island in perspective" Mewtwo said thoughtfully

Mew stopped eyes wide "I just remembered! Wasnt Arceus going to make a new region? Let's go explore that!"

"I don't know" Mewtwo said "that would take time and Ash may need us"

"Please" Mew said with a wave of a hand? Paw? "I'll go quickly tell Ash and I'm sure won't mind wait here I'll be right back"

Mew teleported with a pop leaving Mewtwo to wait for a second before Mew teleported back "its all good we can go"

"Well then" Mewtwo said flying up "let us"

Meanwhile back on with where our group had arrived on the island with Brock setting up camp with the help of Vulpix and Geodude

"So I have been thinking" Vulpix said during a moment of rest, Geodude looked over hesitantly "do you think I should evolve? I have heard that Ninetails have psychic power's in small amounts which may let me help Brock more"

Geodude considered this before slowly shrugging raising his arms in a sign for a time out

"I suppose you're right I should consider it more before dexiding, thank you for the advice good sir"

"Hey can you help me light this fire Vulpix?" Brock asked having set up a cooking pot

Vulpix nodded happily walking over to help Brock

The day past quickly some would say and as evening rose Ash was sitting down on the grass next to looking out over the sunset

"Hey Ash" Brock yelled from his spot over the food he was making "foods going to be ready soon would you be able to round up everyone?"

Ash climbed to his feet stretching before nodding flipping a page in his book "I'll be twenty minutes maximum" he took off down the beach towards where Misty was swimming with her pokemon

Ash waved out to the ocean where Misty was to call her over, she swam over quickly

"Whats the problem Ash?" She asked arriving on the shore

Ash flipped a page in his book "Brocks calling everyone back for food he asked me to grab everyone"

Misty nodded "I get it, guessing pokemon are included in that?" Ash nodded, "alright most of my pokemon are above water but Gyarados is underwater somewhere it could take ages to get her"

Ash waved a hand dropping his book "I can get her you just gather everyone else up" he dived into the water changing his illusion to a floatzel in mid air

Ash swam through the water for a while eventually stopping in front of gyarados in the water "you're Misty's gyarados correct?" Gyarados nodded "Misty's calling for you at the beach" Gyarados nodded again before speeding off to the surface closely followed by Ash

Ash jumped out of the water with a splash changing illusion in mid air landing next to Misty with a bow, Misty quickly clapped a smirk on her face "yes yes all hail the amazing Ash able to jump out of water and become human, I've recalled my pokemon so I'll head over to Brock good luck with the rest" with that the water type trainer walked over to where Brock and Tracey were

Ash looked around "where's the next group again" he turned to the mountain and sighed "oh, oh yeah"

After several gruelling minutes of Ash attempting to climb the mountain before realising he could fly he had made it to the top to find Onix arguing with Kabutops and Zubat

"Hey you three!" Ash yelled into the middle of the argument Brock's calling for everyone so head down to him

Onix rolled his eyes "gladly it will stop these two from dying

Kabutops sadly walked over to the edge of the mountain head down, before quickly slashing a rock off the mountain, jumping on it and kicking down in one fell move "or will it!" He yelled as he sped down, yet no one could hear it

Ash shrugged turning to Onix "to be fair I've died and it's not that bad"

"That does not make it better" Onix sighed diving into the ground following Kabutops and Zubat

Ash rolled his eyes changing into a pidgeot taking off from mountain "So Mewtwo and Mew are gone so that leaves" Ash thought for a second then groaned "oh right I need to scan an entire island for a group of pokemon great"

A bolt of shocked from the ground at that point straight up "never mind that makes life easier" Ash dived to the ground landing next to his pokemon who were surrounding Cassidy and Biff

"Hey guys what are we doing?" Ash asked landing

"Ash?" Ivysaur asked, receiving a nod "ah good to know"

"Oh great and now they've got another bird" Cassidy sighed "Bill why did you try this plan?"

"Its Butch! And you thought of the plan" Bob snapped back looking at the pokemon surrounding them

"So anyone want to tell me what's been happening? Also Brock's calling us" Ash asked not changing illusion "and who're these two"

"These two" Charizard gestured to the two rockets with a snarl "have been attacking us all day, they're apparently part of Team Rocket but they suck even more than the other two"

"Oh" Ash sighed "simple solution blast them off"

"Agreed" Pikachu nodded releasing a thunderbolt along either many attacks from the rest of the pokemon

"Team Rockets blasting off!" The rockets yelled rocketing into the sky, bad pun right?

Ash changed his illusion back to human "as I ssid Brock's calling everyone back for food"

The group made their way back to camp as night fell, everyone ate and slept and soon enough the group was on course once again for Trovita island

"Here we are!" Misty yelled gleefully as the group docked on Trovita "it feels like we've been the ocean for a month"

Brock jumped to shore as well "that's probably because its been a month since you got your last badge" Brock pointed out

Tracey jumped off Lapras as well closely followed by Ash and all his pokemon "Trovita is a lovely place at his time of year" Tracey said looking a found fondly "I used to come here with my parent's every year"

Misty looked around "so where's the gym?"

"So you're looking for the gym are you?" A voice said from near the group the group turned to see a young man approaching thrm "well I may be of some help for you"

"Oh how convenient" Ash said with an eye roll "let me guess he's the gym leader? This has happened in one way or another in every gym so far for these islands"

The man continued being unable to hear the sarcastic comment "for you see I am the gym leader of this island and for a lovely woman like yourself I could easily guide you to my gym"

"Is he flirting with challengers?" Tracey whispered to Brock "that seems fairly inappropriate"

Misty nodded "it would be lovely to take your challenge!"

"Oh dear Arceus save us he is" Brock replied "even I have more tact then that"

The group followed the man, who introduced himself as Rudy, to the docks "in order to challenge my gym you must pass an attack test" Rudy said as he gestured to a nearby boat "we will all ride in the boat and whoever hits the most targets being held by flying types is the winner, you can use every pokemon you have"

"Every pokemon I have" Misty pondered "I wonder how I can break this gym"

"I'm sorry?" Rudy said skeptical

"I mean have you really not noticed how easy it is to break some of these challenges? Each of them can be broken with psychic types, stopping water guns in mid air, using psychic to fly down the mountain for Arceus sake what's stopping a challenger from using psychic to knock down every target at once here?"

"Oh" Rudy muttered "we'll have to disallow psychic from now on I suppose, however the challenge must continue hurry into the boat"

the group got into the boat, Misty releasing all her pokemon and telling them the objective before the group set off into the ocean, multiple Pidgeotto's flying past holding targets

the round however didn't last long, as the group discovered that Lapras using surf would hit all the targets. All of them.

"well then" Rudy said as the last of the targets went down "that's certainly a victory"

Ash flipped a page in his book smirking "Good job breaking another challenge Misty, three for three"

Misty rolled her eyes "And you didn't make a fool of half of the Kanto gym leaders?" she turned back to Rudy "and what is the second part of your challenge?"

"the second part will take place tomorrow" Rudy said as the group docked "meet me here again at midday for it"

Misty nodded "I will see you then"

the rest of the day went fast for the group, finding a hotel near the end of the day, the next day arrived and the group was back on the docks

"I see you have returned!" Rudy called the group over "for today's challenge we will be having a straight best out of three battle, the complicated part is that we must use the same type as each other" he led the group over to a battlefield "You may chose your type first as the challenger"

Misty walked to her side of the battlefield taking a pokeball from her belt "I start with Staryu" Misty said throwing the pokeball to reveal, as expected, Staryu

"A water type?" Rudy said thoughtfully "I choose Vaporeon" Rudy said, throwing his pokeball to reveal the aforementioned vaporeon

"Power gem!" Misty yelled after Rudy started the round, the gem in Staryu glowed for a second before firing a red beam of light that hit Vaporeon "don't let up, Swift" Staryu's gem glowed again for a second before white stars were fired out from all around it curving in mid air to hit Vaporeon causing a cloud of dust, that when settled, revealed a knocked out Vaporeon

"You fight well" Rudy yelled returning Vaporeon, Misty doing the same for Staryu "But for this round I shall take the victory, choose your pokemon"

"cocky aren't you?" Misty muttered "Golduck!" Misty threw her pokeball revealing as expected, Golduck

"Chinchou" Rudy said throwing his pokeball to reveal a Chinchou, somehow on land

the round started "Aqua Jet straight up" Golduck quickly took off from the ground water surrounding himself as he ascended "now!" Misty yelled as he reached the peak of his climb, Golduck stopped in mid air turning to face the other water type, eyes glowing along with the water, before he dived down powered by psychic and water, colliding with Chinchou after barely a second, Chinchou was knocked out

Rudy sighed recalling it "you win this round and in turn the match" he walked to Misty's side of the battlefield presenting the badge, a spiked seashell curving in on itself with a red gem in the middle "the Spike Shell Badge, from what I've heard you've been doing the rounds on our gyms, the final one is on Kumquat Island"

"Thank you Rudy" Misty said "it was lovely to meet you, just don't flirt with any challengers ever again, for everyone's sake"

The group left the island less than an hour later in search of Kumquat island

Ash tapped Brock on the shoulder while the group rode on Lapras "yeah Ash?"

Ash flipped a page "got the date by any chance?"

Brock nodded "I checked in our hotel it's the twentieth of May, why do you ask?"

Ash nodded for a second before flipping a page again "it's my birthday in two days, was wondering if we could stop on an island for a celebration or something"

"I can help with that" Tracey said suddenly, having listened and watched the conversation "there's an island not far from here that has a festival this time of year, I think it lines up with your birthday perfectly"

Ash flipped another page "what's the name?"

Tracey pulled out his map "let me see"

 **MEANWHILE IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN**

Zapdos groaned leaning backwards, having spent the last few weeks planning the upcoming event "so lets go over this one more time"

"It's simple really" Arceus said "an evil mastermind is going to trick one of you into leaving one of your islands to be captured, then the others will try to take over th r abandoned island, conflict breaks out Lugia" the god gestured to the Johto bird "will step into the fray help the chosen one get three maguffin items chosen one wins everyone parties"

"But that's dumb!" Moltres screeched "we're all good friends why would we fight?"

"I do agree with Moltres" Lugia spoke up "and what of the other three? The companions of the chosen you chose them yourself correct so why are they not involved"

"Look" Arceus said with a sigh "you all forgot to plan for an event that's happening in no less than two days so i gave you a plan, you're welcome to make your own one"

"If I may" Articuno raised a wing "I think i have an idea"

 **MEANWHILE WITH OUR HEROES**

"aha found it!" Tracey yelled "Shamouti Island just west of here"

Ash leaned over to see the map, flipping a page in his book "seems nice, like nothing dangerous could happen"

"Hey Misty" Brock called to the trainer

"Wondering when you were going to ask me" she muttered "I heard the whole thing, its okay"

Ash flipped another page "Shamouti it is?"

* * *

Authors corner: Dear Arceus this took so long, I'm sorry and I would want to give reasons but I don't think anyone wants my last month of life put in this

So next chapter is movie 2 which should be out soon, hopefully, I also would like to thank everyone that's reading these I know my first chapters suck and for you to keep it through to read this thank you, my goal when writing I'd to just make one person happy and if you are that one person thank you


	14. Chapter 14

Authors Corner: and today on Zorua Master we're onto one of, in my opinion, the best movies in the series I won't waste time, I hope you enjoy

* * *

We find our heroes on the ocean after a day of travel, Shamouti and its three surrounding islands in sight for the group, sadly however a storm had formed around the group as they closed in on their destination

"Oh Arceus" Ash groaned looking around at the storm forming "of all times, we haven't had a day of bad weather until now but of course today of all days"

Ivysaur glanced around "it does seem off, almost unnatural"

Charizard glided low from his flight next to Lapras "we're going to need to dock soon" he yelled "Can't risk getting too much water on my tail, I'm going to fly ahead"

"I shall keep pace as well" Lapras said speeding up "Storms are hard to swim through"

Brock tapped Ash on his shoulder "you don't think it's another legendary do you?" he whispered glancing to Tracey who was packing away his sketching tools "I mean last time we had a storm like this"

Ash nodded flipping a page in his book trying to cover it from the rain "I know, I'm hoping not really don't want to die again"

Brock flinched "you really shouldn't joke about that. Hopefully it's just some freak storm that will blow over soon"

Meanwhile underwater following Ash and his friends we find Team Rocket panicking

"We can't keep going in this storm!" James yelled over the sound of water rushing past the Magikarp Submarine "we're going to have to dock at that island"

"Well we can't dock at the island if we can't move pedal harder!" Jessie yelled back continuing to pedal on the machine that made the submarine move

Meowth looked down from the scope he was using to follow the group "'da twerps are docking there 'swell"

 **MEANWHILE IN PALLET TOWN**

Ash's clone glanced up from his work inside Oak's lab looking out the window "oh that can't be good" he sighed standing up from the papers he was signing, opening the window to look outside, a storm had closed over Pallet quicker than Mewtwo's one, trees were nearly being ripped up by the wind and all the pokemon were running, flying and swimming in one direction, to the cliff overlooking the sea and the border of the Orange Archipelago

Professor Oak burst into the room, closely followed by Blue, Yellow and Green "Ash!" Oak paused in thought "Ash's clone? I never realised I've never refereed to you by name and you've never corrected me"

Blue lightly hit the Professor on the shoulder "no time gramps"

the Professor shook his head "You're right." he turned back to Ash's clone who was once again staring out the window "the weather's been like this all across the world, my friend Professor Ivy has said the pokemon on the Orange Archipelago are acting the same, do you have any idea what it could be?"

Ash's clone shook his head picking up the book next to him flipping a page "No clue, but whatever it is it's bad news"

Yellow sighed "whatever it is we're all heading up to where it's centered, place named Shamouti Island in the Orange Archipelago you coming?"

Ash's clone stood up, stretching before flipping a page "Of course this is obviously a problem"

"Great!" Green said happily "Let's go then"

 **MEANWHILE ON FIRE ISLAND**

"Ready to start?" Lugia asked the three birds gathered around him "Now or never as Ho-Oh says"

Moltres nodded, eyeing the sky "so it's just gonna fire ice at me, I fly up and get caught?"

"that is the simple plan yes" Articuno said "afterwards Zapdos" Articuno gestured to the other bird in the group with a wing "will fly over Fire Island and be caught as well, if all goes according to plan the Chosen's shall show up and save you two, we will continue the plan afterwards"

Ice landed around the group, missing by a long shot "that's my que I guess" Moltres sighed starting his ascent "I'll see you in a while"

Moltres flew into the sky, a flying aircraft appearing out of seemingly air shooting ice at him, after a small time of dodging Moltres let himself get hit "oh no I am caught" he drawled out while three rings flew around him encircling him before shooting electricity at him "Argh! Arceus that actually hurts" he yelled as the hoop cage dragged him into the aircraft

"huh" Zapdos mused "that went better than expected actually, I thought he would do something dumb"

 **MEANWHILE BACK WITH OUR HEROES**

the group finally docked on Shamouti a sigh of relief going through the group while they jumped onto shore "Thank Arceus I thought we would never make it" Misty said returning Lapras after everyone got off

"it did seem very strange" Tracey said in thought "A storm from no where that's somehow not over this island just all around it"

before the group could continue the train of thought people wearing masks oddly looking like the Tapus of Alola jumped out of the trees around the beach surrounding the group

"oh great" Blastoise growled as best as a turtle could "It's also an island of cultists, in my old gang"

"Don't" Ivysaur cut him off "just don't"

one of the people took one of their masks off, revealing an old man with a beard "Hello!" He called to the group "sorry to startle you all it's tradition on our island for this time of year"

"Yes sorry" another person wearing a mask laughed, taking theirs off to reveal a girl with short brown hair "We have a festival today, its called the Legend Festival! Sorry to startle you but could you introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Brock a pokemon breeder in training" Brock introduced himself, glancing back at Misty who seemed ready to stop any attempted flirting

"I'm Tracey a pokemon watcher" Tracey introduced a slight blush on his face

"Misty, Water Type trainer" she introduced "and this is Ash" she gestured to Ash and his many pokemon "he's a pokemon trained"

"Pokemon trainer?" The group yelled before cheering

"The great legend tells of your arrival!" The bearded man said "only you and your friends can the guardian of the waters vanquish the great titans of Fire, Ice and Lightning!"

"Wait what?" Tracey asked "that came out of left field didn't it?"

"Don't worry about it kids" the man laughed "it's only for the tourists"

"So this is the trainer this year?" A girl asked, having stayed in the trees, she walked out onto the beach "I guess he'll do"

The girl with brown hair sighed "come on Melody could you at least pretend to be enjoying the festivities"

"Yeah yeah" the girl, identified as Melody, said with a wave of the hand turning back to Ash "a traditional welcome kiss is needed I suppose" Melody attempted to lean in to kiss Ash, only to miss as the trainer moved out the way book it hand

"That will not be necessary thank you" Ash quickly opened his book to show the message

"Oh" Melody looked at Misty "then she must be your girlfriend right?"

Misty looked horrified "No! Arceus no"

"I can't even imagine the intense illegality of that" Pidgeot cringed "pokemon and human marriages may have been a thing but its certainly not now"

"They were?" Clefable asked "I thought that was a rumour"

Pidgeot nodded "I did as well, but from a friend I heard apparently it was major in Sinnoh"

"I think we're being left behind" Oricorio pointed out, since yes the rest of the group had walked off

"The one time I don't perch on Ash's hat" Pidgeot sighed taking off to keep track

 **MEANWHILE ON FIRE ISLAND**

We find two bird sitting in a cave on the iced over island, Lugia having retreated to the sea until he was called

"You think we went overboard?" Zapdos asked glancing to the storm that kept changing from a storm, to a snowstorm, to clear skies then back again "this has to be going from here to Kanto

"That is the idea" Articuno reminded the bird "we need to make sure the other friends of the chosen are here so he can finish this"

Zapdos nodded "I understand that but was putting a signal to all pokemon from here to Orre really necessary"

"Yes! We need to outdo the psychics somehow don't we?" Articuno chirped

An explosion rocked the cave soon after "no more questions that's your cue"

Zapdos yawned stretching his wings "see you in half an hour" he said before taking flight, not bothering to dodge the capture as Moltres had

 **MEANWHILE IN PALLET TOWN**

a helicopter descended on Oak's ranch, all four of the waiting trainers looked up as it landed the Professor jumping out after it did "sorry that took so long" the older Oak sighed "had to get through to the Elite Four and they were not prepared for an old man to come knocking"

"You're rambling again gramps" Blue pointed out "we really don't have time"

The professor shook his head "of course we don't sorry, everyone in the helicopter!"

The group climbed into the helicopter it taking off after everyone was in

Ash's clone scanned the people in the helicopter, Blue, Yellow, Green and the professor, Ash's clone flipped a page in his book "where's Red? Don't we want as many people as possible?"

"Off in Johto" Yellow said "he was going to go meet up with Gold right before this happened and he can't make it back in time so we're having to go without"

Green sighed "makes you wonder how he even won a tournament with his inability to make it places on time"

 **MEANWHILE WITH OUR HEROES**

we find our heroes at the main centre of the festivities of the night, sitting in a large hall eating food and talking

"Can't believe her" Misty muttered eating a drumstick of some pokemon, probably combuskin "me Ash's girlfriend" she continued muttering, to a trill from Togepi and a grunt from Squirtle

Ash laughed as best as he could without speaking flipping a page "oh don't worry Misty that was hours ago, just be excited we're at the main part of a festival!"

"Easy for you to say" Misty sighed "Stupid dark types laughing everything off" she muttered

"Wait what was that?" Tracey asked confused eyes glancing up from his food

Misty's eyes widened realizing what she said "oh nothing! Just a joke is all"

"Odd joke" Tracey mumbled "Ash's way to human to be a dark type" Tracey trailed off "unless"

"You know I just realized" Brock said hurriedly changing the conversations topic, standing up drink in hand "to you Ash, and for a great year of travels, happy birthday"

Misty grinned grabbing her drink and standing up "yeah, happy birthday Ash!" Misty stopped "that means it's been a year since you got my bike burned" she sighed sitting down

Ash was going to hurriedly explain why he hadn't paid Misty her bike back when a song cut through through hall, a haunting melody being played on a flute of sorts

The group turned to the stage that been set up in the hall to see Melody run on stage in a white dress and short veil covering her head playing the song, she stopped after a short time and ran over to Ash's table

"Hear ye all!" She said bowing to Ash's group "from the trio off islands you four shall take! For between life and death of the difference you all shall make! Oh those of the chosen you just climb to the song to right what is wrong and the world shall be healed by the guardians song!"

"Okay but what do we have to do?" Brock asked

"I just told you!" Melody said

"Okay but what do we actually have to do? As in what do we need to do?" Brock repeated brow furrowed

"Oh it won't be very hard" she said sitting down at the table "almost all of the chosen come back alive!"

Melody's sister who the group hadn't got the name of yelled from across the room

Melody laughed "all you have to do is get three glass balls from each of the islands surrounding this one!" She said picking up an orange putting in Tracey's hand "one from fire island" she picked up a lemon pitting it I'm Brock's "one from lightning island" she picked up a bunch of grapes and put it in Misty's hands "and one from ice island, then you bring them back here I play the song at we end the festival"

Ash stretched before flipping a page "how long do we have?"

"Oh quite a while" Melody said "until the end of the night"

Ash stood up nodding "you're not going now right?" Tracey asked an eyebrow raised "I mean we have a lot of time, a good few hours"

Ash shook his head flipping a page in his book "No, just something feels wrong going to walk it off" Ash turned to the various pokemon closing his book "anyone want to come?"

Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder "sure, need some time to dwell on this feeling"

The two left the hall walking away from the festivities "you feel it as well then?" Ash asked after the two made it out of the main town "this weird disturbance, the weird weather all it has something to do with this island and the one around it"

Pikachu nodded glancing around "I know what you mean it's a gut feeling, like something is wrong on a miniscule level that's effecting everything"

Ash smirked "when did you become so intelligent?"

Pikachu rolled his eyes "since I started hanging around the new bird, kid's smart"

Ash sighed "yeah I noticed" Ash glanced around his surroundings, an odd ruins with stone pillars dotted around it and a stone plinth in the middle with three holes do you have any idea where we are?"

Pikachu glanced around "uh on Shamouti? Unless you learnt how to walk on water without telling us"

"Hail chosen!" A voice said from behind the two causing them to turn go see a slowking

Ash glanced around at the weather which had cleared up again "actually today I think it has been anything but"

The slowking laughed dryly "I suppose you are correct, but sadly I have to approach you on sadder terms" The Slowking sighed pointing to one of the three islands surrounding the area that could be seen from the ruins "look towards fire island, there is where this all begins"

Ash and Pikachu looked towards the island to see a silhouette of a bird flying around if, doing laps freezing the island before turning its attention to the ocean and with a single blast of ice to the ocean a gust of snow fell to the ground around Ash and Pikachu, the ocean freezing over "that's Articuno" Pikachu observed

"You are correct" Slowking nodded "but she should not be there, that is all I can say for now chosen but you must hurry, bring your companions here they will be needed if the world is to stay above water today"

Ash nodded "I'll be back" with that the two took off back to the hall at top speed, Ash contemplating turning to something that could fly in order to be quicker

the two made it into the hall "you explain to the other pokemon I'll explain to Brock, Misty and Tracey" Ash said, Pikachu nodded jumping off his shoulder, Ash ran to the table his friends were at and slammed his book onto it flipping pages "we have a problem"

Misty raised an eyebrow "what kind of problem, because we already noticed the weather"

Ash flipped another page "new island kind of problem, about as bad"

Brock and Misty stood up quickly grabbing their bags "What's a New Island problem?" Tracey asked scrambling to his feet

"A bad one" Brock replied solemnly "a very very bad one, we'll explain later"

"Ash what's going on?" Clefable asked running up to the trainer with the rest of the pokemon "Pikachu said it was something very bad and that was all"

"Well to put it lightly" Ash said running, his friends following "If we don't stop this the world apparently will flood, I think anyway, the explanation was rushed"

the group ran back to the ruins Ash leading the way, when they got there however a new group was waiting, Professor Oak, Blue, Yellow, Green and Ash's clone

"Ah Ash my boy" Professor Oak sighed happily as the group made it to the ruins "good to see you're all alive, as you may have noticed there is an issue currently"

"Professor Oak!" Tracey said surprised "I've always wanted to meet you"

"ah Tracey correct?" Oak asked "Sadly we can't catch up now there is an issue"

"you got that right" Blue said with a grimace looking out to sea, Ash's group looked as well a second later an explosion rocked the area, out of seemingly no where a fortress appeared two birds flying out to join one that had seemingly caused the explosion

"the legendary birds of Kanto" Ash's clone mused "Never thought I would see this when I woke up today"

"Now's really not the time to be impressed" Yellow yelled "they're coming this way!"

Yellow was indeed correct, the three birds flew over the island attacking the small area with electricity, ice and fire, the group all leapt away and varying speeds, Blue tackling the professor to the side, everyone managed to move out the way except for Ash's clone who was thrown back by the fire hitting one of the pillars his illusion dropping revealing a Zoroark

Ash's clone brought a claw to his head "dear Arceus that hurt" he looked around at the different stares, mainly Tracey's of confusion "surprise" he muttered

Ash ran over helping his clone to his feet "Nice job evolving by the way"

Tracey shook his head recovering from shock "I'm sorry but can someone please explain to me what just happened?"

"No time round two!" Green yelled pointing up to the birds who were indeed attempting another flyover

before the birds could attack the group a typhoon rose from the water, the three birds quickly turned course at flew in different directions towards the islands surrounding Shamouti

"our guardian Lugia!" Slowking yelled over the storm

the typhoon quickly disappeared the water falling into the ocean revealing, as expected, Lugia. Yellow and Green cringed back slightly as the bird hovered above the island

"do not be afraid" Lugia said with telepathy for the various humans "I am not here to harm you I require the assistance of Arceus many chosen" the bird landed on the island looking at the group

"Can we please get an explanation on what's going on?" Blue asked leaning back against one of the rocks of the ruins "the weathers more messed up than Red's alcohol tolerance, the three birds of Kanto are flying around attacking Shamouti there's that giant fortress" Blue gestured to the flying fortress that had captured Zapdos and Moltres "and what do you mean by 'Arceus many chosen'?"

"all good questions" Lugia said with a nod "the weather has been changed as the harmony between the three birds has been disrupted so they're each trying to claim Shamouti as there own land in order to keep the weather to how they like. The fortress" Lugia gestured to the flying fortress "is owned by the man who ruined the harmony between the birds in an attempt to summon and capture me, as for the last one each of you here are chosen by Arceus in case of the worlds balance being disrupted you are to help save it"

"Right" Ash said stepping forward "so I'm guessing we need to save the world? How this time?"

Lugia laughed slightly "I suppose it sounds simple on paper and in words but it will be complex" Lugia looked to each of the islands surrounding Shamouti in turn "you must venture to each of the islands surrounding Shamouti and collect three orbs from them, then bring the orbs here and place them in that altar here that combined with the song of legends will calm the birds and bring peace to the land" Lugia paused thinking "however someone must stop the man who owns that fortress from capturing them again I fear that we may not have enough time though"

Brock brought a hand to his chin "Is it one person specifically that can place the orbs or any of us?" he asked thinking

"Anyone here could place the orbs" Lugia said before his face turned to a smile "I see that would work"

"Right" Brock said turning to the group "I have a plan"

The group formed the plan keeping an eye on the islands surrounding the Shamouti the three birds sometimes attempting to attack Shamouti being fended off Lugia for the ten minutes it took to plan

"So are we all agreed on the plan?" Ash's clone asked with a flip of a page

"What about the song?" Tracey asked "Didn't Lugia say that the song was needed?"

Brock put a hand to his head "you're right, that does cause trouble"

"I think we could help" the group turned to where the voice had come from to see Team Rocket

Misty groaned "I don't know if you noticed this is kinda important"

"We know!" James said defensively "We want to help, can't have any legendaries upstaging Team Rocket"

"Besides" Meowth added "we still owe ya after 'da island!"

Ash rolled his eyes flipping a page in his book "okay get over here and we'll explain the plan"

the plan was gone over quickly again with amends to add Team Rocket

Ash's clone flipped a page glancing to the birds who were attempting another attack on the tired Lugia "we need to go now, everyone get into your groups" the many trainers stood up rushing into pairs, one group releasing two flying pokemon taking off in a hurry, one group climbing down the cliff releasing pokemon to climb on swimming across the short path of water that wasn't frozen, one group climbing down the cliff and running across the ocean, a group of four turning and running away from the ruins to town and finally a group of many pokemon staying at the ruins

Ash dropped his bag to the ground fishing around in it "what are you doing?" Ash's clone asked "we need to head out now"

Ash nodded "I know, but two birds are better than one" Ash grabbed a small bell from his bag "bingo" Ash rang the bell as Lugia landed next to the two battered from the many attacks

"I see your friends have left, is there a plan or are we just guessing on what to do?" Lugia asked looking at the retreating birds "we have to act soon I won't last another attempt"

Ho-Oh landed next to the group and eyed Lugia "you look like you've not been having a good day" Ho-Oh observed

Lugia rolled his eyes "oh gee thanks" Lugia turned back to the other pokemon at the ruins "so the plan?"

Ash nodded "yes the plan, Ho-Oh you'll take all the rest of our pokemon, me and my clone will ride on Lugia, we ride to that giant fortress break in and break as many things as possible on the way to beat up the guy who started all of this"

the various pokemon got onto the birds who took off

"So what's the plan? I haven't been informed" Lugia asked as they made their way to the fortress

"oh it's simple" Ash's clone replied "Basically"

 **MEANWHILE NEAR LIGHTNING ISLAND IN THE SKY**

We find two gym leaders on their way to Lightning Island, the leader of Viridian's gym on a Charizard and the leader of Pewter on an Aerodactyl

"When we get there" Blue yelled over the wind and thunder "we're probably going to be attacked by Zapdos be prepared"

Brock nodded "we'll need to fight it to get the orb for sure, if we fight it two on one though we'll have a better chance" Brock said thoughtfully "or one of us could split from the other to grab the orb while the other fights Zapdos"

Blue shook his head "Two on one is the smart choice, but this isn't a trainer fight we can use all of our pokemon at once we have an advantage" he turned back to the island "we're going to be there in just over a minute get your pokeballs ready"

Brock brought a hand to the belt his pokeballs were on "Better to start with rock moves" Brock muttered leaning down to Aerodactyl "When you see Zapdos Ancient Power immediately first strike is always best under intense situation" Aerodactyl nodded slowly, Brock sat back up and turned to Blue "Do you have Porygon2 with you?" Brock yelled over the wind

Blue nodded bringing a hand his belt of pokeballs "never leave the gym without my old team"

"Good, I'll try to distract Zapdos you try to freeze its wings with Tri Attack and Golduck, that will ground it and leave it vulnerable" Brock said glancing up the island which the two were close enough to land nearly

"When we land" Blue yelled over a bolt of lightning "every one of your pokemon, immediately"

The two landed on the island throwing all of their pokeballs out, except Snorlax's, quickly explaining the situation to the pokemon

Brock looked up around the area, a rocky cove with a carved staircase nearby "That's the most likely path to the orb I bet" Brock said pointing at the staircase

Blue looked down from eyeing the sky looking for Zapdos "Extremely likely, bad part is it's going to lead straight to the bird"

"Of course it will" Brock sighed "it would be to easy otherwise, let's go"

 **MEANWHILE NEAR ICE ISLAND IN THE OCEAN**

We find a gym leader and a trainer on their way to the next island crossing the ocean that had been frozen and subsequently unfrozen by Articuno and Moltres in order, the gym leader of Cerulean on the back of her Seadra and the trainer on the back of her Blastoise

"Once we get there what is our plan?" Green asked after a long silence "as in, do we grab the orb and run or fight Articuno or what?"

Misty bit her tongue thinking "did you bring your Abra?"

Green nodded lightly touching a pokeball on her belt with her free hand, the other being used to hang onto Blastoise "of course, never leave home without all of my pokemon, well except for the birds"

"Okay when we get their" Misty began before being dragged underwater by Seadra to avoid a blast of ice from the bird that was circling Ice island "As I was saying" Misty grumbled when she surfaced again "I'll fight Articuno and distract them, you make a break for the orb then teleport away with Abra back to the ruins with it"

Green grimaced looking at Misty "You sure you want to take on a legendary one on one? I could help"

Misty shook her head "we need to do this quickly, worse comes to worse I'll make a break for it with Gyarados"

Green looked over confused "you have a Gyarados and you're choosing to ride on a Seadra"

Misty nodded turning to the island that the two were nearing "we don't want a fight right? better to be quiet and slow in this case than fast and screaming like I can only assume Ash does during battles"

Green grinned "from what Yellow has told me he basically yells every order he gives" she joked turning to the island that the two were close enough to dock on "So we're going quietly? avoiding battles wherever possible right?"

Misty nodded jumping onto the island of ice returning Seadra "if a fight happens we'll need to be quick to release every pokeball but I'll buy as much time as I can for you"

Green jumped onto shore returning Blastoise looking around at a staircase "In my years of experience, stairs usually lead where you need to go"

Misty looked at the stairs "lets put that to the test shall we"

 **MEANWHILE NEAR THE SHORES OF FIRE ISLAND**

We find an artist and a pacifist on their way to the island, running across the ice to the nearest island of the three Fire Island which was still nearly a mile away from Shamouti

"I know now's really not the best time to ask" Tracey huffed between breaths while running "but what is the situation with Ash and his twin? and his twin being a pokemon"

Yellow grinned between breaths "It's a long story" she huffed "main part is, Ash's 'twin' is more of his genetic clone thanks to science, and Ash is a Zorua"

Tracey sighed gritting his teeth "I feel like there's a massive story there that would take lots of time to explain"

"I don't even know all of it" Yellow panted "like why he decided to be a trainer at all"

Tracey nodded thinking "but if it's an illusion" he slowed slightly catching his breath "how come he can throw pokeballs and touch things properly and such shouldn't that not work at all, with it being an illusion and all"

"I asked him about it one time actually" Yellow huffed "according to him all Zorua and Zoroark can make solid illusions when in danger, he was born with the ability to do it all the time same with his clone"

Tracey laughed speeding up again "at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if it's because he's always in danger with the legendary pokemon"

Yellow turned to the island that was right ahead of the two "so what's the plan? neither of us are very good at battling, no offense, it wouldn't be a good idea to fight Moltres head on plus I would feel bad attacking it outright"

Tracey thought for a second "there's no way to avoid a fight" the artist muttered "but we don't need to actually fight it, we just need to avoid it and distract it to buy time to grab the orb and run"

Yellow thought "That could work actually, if we blind it or just make sure to avoid it we can entirely avoid conflict"

The two ran onto the shore of the island looking around at the shore sparking with lightning and the stairs "Think we should take the stairs? seems pretty obvious the orb will be that way" Yellow asked

Tracey brought a hand to his chin "we could but that would be fairly obvious, but taking the long way around the mountains could also waste valuable time, we're going to have to"

Yellow thought for a second "What if we use our pokemon to help avoid Moltres?"

Tracey nodded throwing his three pokeballs explaining the situation to them, Yellow doing the same for her pokemon then the two set off for the stairs

 **MEANWHILE BACK ON SHAMOUTI**

Three thieves and a professor ran along the cliffs off Shamouti Island heading back to the main town where the festivities took place earlier in the night that was now trapped under a snowstorm in search of someone to play the song of Lugia

"Don't even think of trying anything" Professor Oak yelled over the storm struggling to keep up with Team Rocket "I may look old but I was a great trainer in my day"

"We're not going to rob you old man!" Jessie growled looking back at the Professor "If the world ends we don't get a chance to take it over we need to work together"

Meowth nodded wisely "'da enemy of my enemy is my friend and all dat"

James stopped as the group reached the edge of the town which had been covered in snow "What was the name of the person we were meant to find again?" JAmes asked looking around the town concerned "Medly or something like that?"

"Melody" Oak pointed out "apparently she would be with the leader of the village and her sister somewhere in the town"

"So we walk around a snow storm yelling someone's name?" Jessie asked "of course we get left with the worst job"

"look on the bright side" James said happily "the chances of us getting blasted off are at their lowest out here"

Oak coughed getting the attention of the three rockets "We should probably start looking" he pointed out looking around the town in front of him "we have to find her before this can end"

 **MEANWHILE IN THE SKIES FLYING TO THE FORTRESS**

"And so in basic terms" Ash said finishing his explanation of the plan "Three groups get the orbs, one finds Melody and we blow up a fortress"

"You didn't need to go over it in that much detail" Lugia grumbled "You could've just said that end part"

Ash shrugged "I have a flair for the dramatic"

"I don't mean to alarm anyone" Ivysaur yelled from the back of Ho-Oh to everyone "But we're being attacked by the fortress"

the group glanced up to the fortress which had indeed fired the rings that had previously trapped Zapdos and Moltres aiming at Lugia and the two Ash's, they were quickly shot out the air by a combination of attacks from the group, but more had attacked once again being shot out the air, but the attacks persistently continued

"This is going to be an issue" Lugia sighed "I'm going to go as fast as possible to the fortress afterwards I will have to retreat to the water to avoid these" Lugia turned to Ho-Oh "will you be able to help them?"

Ho-Oh scoffed "of course I will who do you take me for?"

"Another volley!" Blastoise yelled over the ever changing weather from Ho-Oh's back as another round of rings flew to attack Lugia before being knocked out the air again by another volley of attacks from the pokemon

"we can't do this for much longer" Lugia shouted "we need to land or I need to retreat to the water and soon"

"I have an idea" Ash's clone said "Drop to the water quickly"

Lugia looked hesitantly back at the two "not that I distrust your plan but you would both drown, drowning is not fun"

Ash's clone changed into a pidgeot "we can fly the rest of the way it's not far, just hurry before the next volley of rings gets here" Ash's clone took off from Lugia's back Ash doing the same, the bird dropped to the water as the two trainers flew next to Ho-Oh who soon landed on top of the fortress with all the other pokemon

"So where do we go from here?" Ho-Oh asked "there's not a way in the fortress"

"Of course there is" Ash replied "we just need to blow up a roof to get in"

"Oh great" Ivysaur sighed "where are the psychic cats when you need them"

 **MEANWHILE ON LIGHTNING ISLAND**

The two gym leaders climbed the stairs which at the top opened into a clearing a shrine in the middle housing a glass orb

"That must be the orb" Brock said attempting to walk to the shrine before Zapdos landed in front of the gym leader blocking his path, or at least trying before being hit with a hidden power from Aerodactyl being knocked backwards into the shrine

Blue pulled Brock back next to him and his pokemon "Ready for a fight?"

Brock nodded eyeing the electric bird who was climbing back to its talons "We need to be quick with this, we need to get the orb that's our priority not fighting Zapdos"

Zapdos quickly flew to the air avoiding a rushed double chop from Blue's Machamp, flying down surrounded by white energy crashing into Machamp before it could dodge knocking it out, Zapdos turned slashing Blue's Golduck who was attempting to sneak up on it with it's talons forcing the water type back

Blue cursed under his breath "I don't have much to counter Zapdos with you're going to have to buy me time I have a plan"

Brock nodded "Kabutops get close to Zapdos, let Zubat hit it with toxic" the fossil pokemon lunged forward, Zubat on his shoulder, dodging a thunder from the bird, when the two got close Zubat fired purple poison from it's mouth hitting Zapdos, the poison seeping through it's feathers "Geodude Rockthrow, try and trap Zapdos" Geodude started throwing rocks at Zapdos as ordered, but didn't get far before being picked up by Zapdos and tossed into the air, being recalled by Brock before he could hit the ground "Aerodactyl try and distract Zapdos buy us time"

"Charizard you do the same" Blue yelled, Charizard took off from the ground flying towards Zapdos, Aerodactyl doing the same from the other side, Zapdos took off to the air the other two flying types changing course to chase the bird

"So what's your plan?" Brock asked eyeing the sky battle which was clearly going in Zapdos favour "We need to do it soon to win this fight"

Charizard crashed next to Blue, who recalled it "It's going to be hard, if we can use a combination of Vulpix imprison and Golduck's Light screen to trap it in place, from there we launch every attack we have at once to hopefully knock it out" Aerodactyl crashed down Brock to be recalled "The issue is that in order to do that we have to keep Zapdos distracted for at least a minute after we start"

Zapdos slouched for a second from the poison "Kabutops get close and feint, Zubat go for supersonic when you can" Brock turned to Vulpix "You need to get prepare an imprison, use it on Blue's call" Vulpix nodded hopping to Blue's side who was explaining the plan Golduck

Kabutops dashed forward scythes raised Zubat on his shoulder, Kabutops jumped at Zapdos who attempted to slash at him with its talons, before it could hit Kabutops spun left in midair causing the bird to miss and Zubat to hit it with supersonic confusing the legendary who stumbled back slashing its eyes with its talons before falling to the ground

"Now!" Blue yelled. Vulpix's eyes glowed and a red barrier surrounded Zapdos who was attempting to return to its talons, Golduck's eyes glowed blue and an almost invisible wall surrounded Zapdos except for many holes for attacks around it, the many pokemon that were still standing launched forward in a flurry of attacks an explosion rocking the area and when the dust settled down Zapdos was knocked out

Brock ran forward past the legendary and grabbed the orb which glowed with yellow lightning in his hand "Now what? we don't have a way to get back to the mainland since Aerodactyl and Charizard are knocked out" Blue asked

Brock slung his bag onto the ground pulling out medical supplies "I can get them in condition to fly but not fight but we'll have to be quick before Zapdos wakes up"

the duo worked on healing the injured pokemon eventually with Aerodactyl and Charizard up they set off from the island heading back to Shamouti

 **MEANWHILE ON ICE ISLAND**

The trainer and the gym leader ran up the stairs, the leader prepared for a fight and the trainer prepared to flee, the duo reached the top of the stairs sacking the area, a clearing made of pure ice a shrine in the middle with an orb in it

"Grab it" Misty whispered nudging Green towards the shrine eying the sky, Articuno diving down to meet the trainers "quickly!"

Green ran towards the shrine quickly grabbing the orb which glowed a light blue in her hand and pocketing it throwing a pokeball with her other hand releasing an abra, Articuno dived at the trainer talons raised to attack but when the bird hit the ground Green was gone in a flash of light

Misty grinned at the bird who rounded on "Now that that's done" Misty grabbed a pokeball from her belt "You want to have a fight?"

Articuno screeched various bird noises at the sky and charged Misty talons raised to strike the trainer, Misty hurriedly jumped to the left rolling on the ice and skidding to a standstill against a ice covered rock throwing the pokeball hurriedly "Signal Beam" Dewgong flew out of the pokeball surfing across the ice, beam glowing pink, blue and yellow, a beam fired from his horn at Articuno who flew up avoiding the attack

Articuno pulled into a hover from the ascent flapping its wings at an intense speed a hurricane forming around it, before it dived down body glowing white before the white energy corrolessed into a ball in front of Articuno which fired at Dewgong

"Roll left!" Misty yelled, Dewgong rolled to his left dodging the ball only to be caught in the back by the bird itself kicking Dewgong with its talons before taking flight again "Dewgong are you okay?" Misty asked running to Dewgongs side, the sea lion pokemon nodded slowly pushing itself up "Good" Misty whispered softly looking around at Articuno who was attempting another kick to Dewgong "But you need to rest, we'll get you to Brock don't worry" Misty tapped a pokeball onto Dewgong's head returning it before rolling again to dodge Articuno throwing a pokeball mid roll

Lapras appeared from the pokeball with a yell sliding along the ice around Articuno the bird eying Lapras hesitantly "Water Pulse" Misty called scrambling to her feet, a ball of water appeared in front of Lapras mouth which fired at Articuno sending the bird back "Rain Dance" Lapras prepared another ball of water but instead of firing at Articuno aimed it skyward disappearing into the sky, a second later the snowstorm around Ice Island changed to a heavy rainfall

Articuno screeched at the sky taking flight before hovering in mid air firing a beam of powerful ice at the ground, Misty stopped eying the attack for a second before realising what it was "That's Sheer Cold! Use Perish Song quickly" Misty dived for cover behind a rock covering her ears, Lapras opened its mouth and started singing as the ice approached it red sound waves appearing from it's mouth and covering Articuno before the ice reached it freezing it and knocking it out

When the ice stopped Misty looked out from over the rock recalling Lapras "five minutes" she muttered to herself starting to count in her head "that's what Brock said right? Five minutes until Perish Song takes effect" Misty climbed on top of the rock throwing another pokeball as she went revealing Golduck

Articuno landed on the ground eyeing the water type for a second before taking off to the sky the whirlwind around the bird disappearing "ground them!" Golduck's eyes glowed blue, an aura appeared around Articuno of the same colour that slammed the bird back into the ground. Articuno slowly pushed itself up again through Golduck's psychic and began flapping its wings sending a snowy storm towards Golduck at a high speed "Disable!" Golduck's eyes glowed red stopping the aura around Articuno for a second before replacing it with a thick red aura stopping Articunos attack

"Four minutes" Misty whispered to herself "Aqua Jet straight up" Golducks body became surrounded in water and it shot straight up stopping in the air when it was level with Articuno "Water pulse" in the second before Golduck started falling the psychic duck brought his hands together forming a ball of water in them shooting it at Articuno which hit the bird sending a loud explosion through the clearing, Golduck landed on the ground next to Misty as the dust cleared revealing the bird still flying

The bird in question screeched before diving at Golduck raking its talons across his back before the duck could roll sending the duck backwards towards Misty "Golduck!" Misty yelled clutching the duck "are you okay?" the duck nodded looking up to Articuno who was attempting another dive bomb "When it gets close Zen Headbut" Misty whispered jumping away from the duck, when Articuno got close the gem on Golducks head glowed surrounding Golduck in a red light, Golduck boosted itself into the air with an aqua jet bringing its head down to meet Articuno

Golduck fell to the ground next to Misty knocked out, Articuno fell as well further away the bird struggling to get to its talons, Misty returned Golduck biting her lip staring down the bird who was consistently trying to stand then fell, a fee minutes passed and Misty grinned. Articuno had made it to its talons but as it took off red energy pulsed around it, the Perish song taking effecting and knocking out Articuno

Misty turned and ran down the stairs throwing a pokeball to release Gyarados when she got to the beach, Misty got a running jump off a rock and landed on Gyarados's back a second before the water sneak swam off to Shamouti

 **MEANWHILE ON FIRE ISLAND**

Tracey hesitantly put his hand forward to grab the orb in the shrine, the group had followed the stairs leading to the clearing they were currently in with no opposition from Moltres Tracey had been elected by the pokemon and Yellow to grab the orb the rest hiding behind a nearby rock

Tracey's hand brushed the orb which glowed a warm orange at his touch, he gently took the orb and pocketed breathing a sigh of relief stepping away from the shrine

The bird that landed behind the artist however was not part of the plan, particularly since it was a very large fire bird

It was later theorized by Professor Oak that Tracey set a new land speed record when he sprinted back to the rock everyone was hiding behind "the stairs!" The artist yelled as he dived over the rock pointing to the aforementioned stairs "run quickly" Tracey whispered "take the pokemon"

"What about you?" Yellow asked adjusting her hat glancing at Moltres over the top of the rock

"I have a plan just run and wait for me at the bottom of the stairs" Tracey whispered jumping back over the rock bringing the orb out of his pocket "Moltres you want the orb! Come here and get it" Moltres flew at Tracey who jumped right nearly being hit "go!" Tracey yelled back to Yellow, the trainer running back down the stairs with her and Tracey's pokemon in tow

Tracey turned back to Moltres who was flying at the artist again, more specifically at the orb in his hand "I may have made a grave mistake" Tracey mumbled backing against a wall examining his options, the clearing was bare other than a few rocks dotting the clearing and a cliff with rocks perched on the edge of the drop down into the clearing, no pokemon to help just the bird attempting to attack him

Moltres charged forward again a burst of flame charged in its mouth releasing a Flamethrower at the artist who rolled left the flames barely missing his jacket. The artist stumbled to his feet running an idea forming in his mind, Tracey backed up against the cliff the rocks threatening to tip over onto him at any moment as Moltres flew up high again

"Come on" the artist whispered to himself watching the bird who was flying higher by the second, higher and higher nearing the cliff above Tracey "Just a little higher" Tracey whispered again as the bird ascended now reaching the rocks. Then the bird dived, straight down towards Tracey a wave of fire in its mouth aimed straight for the artist clutching the orb backed against a wall. Tracey rolled forward when Moltres got close the fire stinging his jacket, Moltres meanwhile crashed into the wall not prepared for the near hit

Tracey stood up flinging his jacket to the ground and throwing dirt from the clearing on it. Moltres started flying up only to be stopped by a sudden avalanche, the rocks on the cliff had fallen when Moltres had hit it pinning the bird to the ground

Tracey rushed over to the legendary when his coat had been successfully extinguished checking over its wings and head "You'll live" Tracey sighed happily at the unconscious bird pocketing the orb and picking up his jacket "Sorry if that hurt! if you can hear me that is"

Tracey ran down the stairs to the beach him and Yellow had arrived on, the yellow haired trainer yelled happily when Tracey arrived recalling her pokemon, Tracey doing the same "So?" Yellow asked when the artist took off across the ice again following him "what happened with Moltres we heard a crash"

Tracey grinned sheepishly bringing the orb out of his pocket "He may be buried under multiple rocks" Tracey sighed "He'll live for sure, but I kind of feel bad for him looked like it hurt"

Yellow sighed "it probably did" she looked at the orb glowing the warm orange "but we should to get this back to Shamouti"

"That we should" Tracey agreed

 **MEANWHILE IN THE TOWN OF SHAMOUTI**

We find our unlikely group of thieves and Professor Oak one bigger as they ran back through the town having found Melody and explained to her the situation they head back to the shrine prepared to finish the ritual to save the world... again. The group arrived at the shrine where Yellow, Tracey, Blue, Brock and Green were waiting three of the trainers carrying orbs

"We're here!" James yelled running into the clearing the trainers and Slowking turning to the group that had arrived "we can do the ritual now right? Then we can go home!"

Slowking nodded "indeed" he turned to the three trainers with the orbs "take your orbs" he pointed to the shrine behind him "and put them in there"

Brock walked towards the shrine first, Blue behind him watching, three holes were in the shrine each one pointing to a different island with a holder for an orb, Brock slotted the orb into the window facing towards Thunder Island, the orb glowed brighter when it was put in and Brock stepped back looking at it "that's a good thing right?" he asked Slowking who nodded happily letting the breeder step away

Green stepped up next hurriedly placing her orb in the window facing Ice Island, the orb glowed a brighter blue when it was placed and with a confirming nod from Slowking Green stepped back standing next to Brock and Blue

Finally Tracey stepped up placing his orb slowly in the last remaining slot that faced towards Fire Island, the orb as the other two had glowed a brighter orange before Tracey stepped back admiring the shrine which glowed a brilliant green when the final orb was put in

"So all I need to do is play the song?" Melody asked bringing her flute to her lips

Slowking shook his head sadly "Not yet, for the ritual to work all of the chosen must be here and three are missing"

Blue sighed sitting down "So we're waiting for Misty and the two Ketchums?"

"Speaking of which" Green said looking around "where is Misty? She should be back by now"

"I'm here!" a voice yelled revealing Misty climbing up to the group soaking wet "Gyarados went a bit off path, got slightly drowned" she looked around "So what're we doing finish the ritual!"

Brock shook his head sadly "we can't until Ash and his clone get back, we need to wait"

 **MEANWHILE ON THE FLYING FORTRESS**

We find our group still on the roof of the fortress attempting to still break in

"This is taking too long!" Ho-Oh decided "everyone get out of the way I'm burning this to the ground" the group of pokemon ran to the sides as Ho-Oh's mouth began to glow golden with fire before releasing burning a clear hole through the roof along with an explosion rocking the area nearly causing Ivysaur to fall off before Charizard caught him

Ash's clone peered into the hole when the smoke settled "You know" he said climbing down "I think that may have overdone it slightly"

Ash jumped past his clone into the room below, Pikachu, Pidgeot, Oricorio and Butterfree taking their places on him "I like it" Ash said looking around the room "Makes a good impression"

The room that the group had burst into was a large open room, four cages were scattered around it, two of them barely could be counted as a cage with the bars all broken off, along with the cages many displays with various objects in them were scattered around the room and finally a giant hole in the wall was nearby the group

Ho-Oh groaned when he landed seeing the hole in the wall "how did we miss that?"

Ash shrugged as Charizard brought down Ivysaur and Clefable and then Blastoise "No time to worry about that, we need to find whoever is piloting this thing and punch him or something"

Ivysaur looked around "Where do you think he is though? This place looks massive"

Charizard pointed down the one corridor from the room "I'm willing to bet that's a good place to start"

Ash's clone nodded "That's some good odds"

the group made their way through the fortress through many twisting hallways before arriving in another large room much like the first but without the cages

"it just ocurred to me" Clefable said while Ash's clone examined the many items in the display cases "how do we stop the person in control of this fortress? And what do we do after that"

Ash shrugged "Get someone to carry them back to Shamouti and arrest them?"

Pidgeot sighed "Why do I feel like that will end up being me"

"I think I found something" Ash's clone called over to the group beckoning them over, in one of the cases a map of the fortress sat with many buttons and levers to the side of it "Now if you'll look" Ash's clone pointed to the room they were in which connected with a vertical hallway to a room labeled bridge "Somewhere in this room is a way to the bridge and I'll bet that's where our man is"

Charizard groaned "We don't have to burn another hole in the roof right? That was tedious and dull"

Blastoise pointed to the buttons "I'm not a betting pokemon, but in my old gang if there were buttons we would push them"

Ivysaur groaned "That one doesn't even make sense. But pressing them does seem like the best idea here"

Ash shrugged and reached down to push one of the buttons, after pressing it the sound of steam rushed through the room and from behind the group a platform a very confused man on it as it spun to the ground

"Well hello" the man said looking at the group "I may sound rude but who are you and why are you on my fortress"

Ash in response to this promptly ran up and punched the man as hard as he could knocking him to the ground

Ash's clone grabbed Ash's shoulder before he ran forward "what was that for!"

"He said it himself" Ash said shrugging "He owns the fortress, ergo he owns the canons, ergo he's the one that captured Moltres and Zapdos and tried to capture Lugia meaning he's a pokemon poacher meaning we arrest him and go home happy"

Ash's clone nodded "Yes that makes sense" Ash's clone then nodded to Butterfree on Ash's shoulder "but Sleep Powder makes around fifty percent more sense"

Ash went to object then stopped nodding "Okay in hindsight yes" he agreed turning back to the man who was getting up "but in my defence, that punch felt really good after today. Butterfree would you kindly knock this man out"

Butterfree nodded flying off Ash's shoulder and releasing a blue powder over the man knocking him out before returning to Ash's shoulder

Ash's clone slung the man over his shoulder and looked around "So what now?"

Ash hummed for a second looking around "I say we blow this place up" he replied "Make sure no one can use it again"

"And we do that how?" Charizard asked with an eyeroll

Ash waved a hand "I'll figure something out, you all go with Ho-Oh back to Shamouti and I'll follow once I get this place destroyed, I'll take a page out of Team Rocket's book they seem to start an explosion at the first sign of any attack"

Ash's clone nodded gesturing with his free hand to the pokemon to follow him as they made their way back to the hole in the previous room, all except for Pikachu who stayed behind with Ash

"Why'd you stay?" Ash asked stepping onto the platform the man had come down from "You should be going with the others"

Pikachu laughed jumping onto Ash's shoulder "Think I would let you finish this by yourself? You would probably find a way to die at this point without me"

Ash shrugged pressing another button sending the platform the two were standing on upwards "I don't know, no psychic cats this time"

"Yeah" Pikachu said with an eye roll "Just three birds controlling the elements that want to plunge the world into a eternal underwater chaos" Pikachu stopped for a second "I think anyway, we've not really been given the whole story have we"

"Seems to be the way it goes" Ash replied as the platform stopped in the bridge "We don't get told the whole thing now go save the world!" Ash looked around wandering over to one of the many machines in the room "not that I'm complaining saving the world is a nice change of pace. Now how about we blow this up, everything in here looks important"

Pikachu smirked "And how do you suggest we do that?"

"Simple" Ash replied dropping his illusion letting Pikachu fall to the ground with a smirk "Throw as many high powered attacks as we can at once at the important looking thing"

Pikachu shrugged "Works for me"

Many Shadow Balls and at least three Thunder's later the machine had exploded causing a large hole in the wall to be made and the fortress to start shaking

Ash quickly changes his illusion to a Pidgeot and grabbed Pikachu flying out the window only stopping to turn around and watch as the fortress fell into the ocean exploding the whole way down

"That's going to cause some heavy pollution" Pikachu sighed with a grimace as Ash continued "Maybe Lugia can help clean it up"

Ash did as good as a shrug as he could while flying "I'm sure he will, plus theirs lots of people who would be down for helping"

A typhoon of water rocketed from the water close to Ash and Pikachu causing them to veer to the left, when the water died down Lugia was revealed flying alongside the duo "By the looks of things the situation has cleared up no?"

Pikachu nodded slowly climbing onto Ash's back "Everything's done now, birds stopped guy doing everything arrested place blown up"

"Oh and about that blown up thing" Ash said with a sigh "the fortress kinda fell into the ocean, someone with control over water may want to do something about that. Nudge nudge"

Lugia nodded "Yes I will take care of that. I suppose I shall see you on Shamouti?"

"Of course" Ash replied speeding forward to Shamouti "It's not like we're going to leave immediately"

With that Lugia dived back into the water leaving the trainer and his friend to keep soaring through the sky eventually arriving on Shamouti at the ruins were the rest of the trainers were waiting

Ash landed on the island changing his illusion back Pikachu landing on his shoulder Ash looked around the area and at the various trainers, pokemon and knocked out criminal around it grabbing his book from his bag flipping a page "So I assume everything went well?"

Yellow nodded happily "Yup! Everyone got the orbs"

"So all we need to do now is play the song" Misty finished turning to Melody "Would you do the honours, also because none of us know how to play"

Melody nodded taking place at the front of the ruins bringing her ocarina to her lips beginning to play the song she had played on the stage an hour as she did the ruins started glowing green water beginning to flow from the shrine were the orbs were kept flooding down crevices in the rocks into and around the ruins, the snow the group was standing on melted away revealing green grass all around them which was soon populated by flowers and finally as the song was nearing the end the three birds rose from the islands flying towards Shamouti in sync landing on the island around them before Lugia rose from the ocean again in a typhoon the water falling before he landed in front of the three birds looking at the group

"You have done well chosen" Lugia spoke looking at each of the group in turn "by bringing together all of your strong points you have saved the world from an eternity flooded and brought new life to Shamouti" he turned to Ash "Ash Ketchum of Pallet if you do not refuse my request I wish to travel with you in a way similar to my brother, will you accept these terms"

Ash nodded taking a pokeball out "I mean if you want to sure" with a nod from Lugia Ash tapped the pokeball to his side, the pokeball didn't even shake before a successful capture, Ash immediately sent Lugia out, a bell appearing as well in Ash's other hand

"If you are ever need of my service ring this bell and I will come to your assistance" Lugia said before taking off leaving the three birds with the trainers

an awkward silence fell on the area while the three birds looked awkwardly at their talons, Articuno was the first to speak "I think all three of us can say, we messed up today" the rest of the birds nodded in agreement "And during our flight" Articuno continued "we came to a decision, each of us would like to travel with one of you"

Tracey looked at Ash an eyebrow raised "Can we have a translation please?" Ash nodded flipping his book to give one "Okay" Tracey trailed off looking back to the birds "but who would you like to travel with"

"I wish to travel with the one named Misty who beat me in a fair battle" Articuno said stepping forward to the orange haired trainer, Misty quickly looked to Ash who was translating before turning back to Articuno

"you want me to capture you" Misty said apprehensively "I mean, Ash is the one with all the legendary's"

"You have shown great strength" Articuno said "You are a great trainer and I wish to see more of the world by the side of you and your companions"

Misty glanced at the translation before slowly taking out a pokeball "If you insist then" She lightly tapped the pokeball to Articuno's wing, and with Lugia's pokeball before it it didn't shake before dinging a sucsessful capture, Misty slowly picked up the pokeball and clipped it onto her belt "If you need me, I'm just going to go sit over there and realise what just happened" She said shakily walking over to the cliff edge

Zapdos was the next to step forward "I'm going to go with the person with the rock types, didn't your name sorry" Zapdos said walking towards Brock "You fight well and treat your pokemon as allies and friends"

Brock nodded taking a pokeball out "I hope you enjoy traveling with us" he said before tapping the pokeball to Zapdos wing which as the two before it didn't shake before signalling the capture, Brock took a step back "Today's been a long day" he sighed leaning back against one of the ruins

Moltres was the last to step up looking to Tracey "You're a smart kid, I wish to travel with you see the world and all that"

Tracey looked taken aback after reading the translation "But I don't even fight! I'm an artist"

Moltres sighed "But somehow you managed to knock me out? You may not be one for fighting but you managed to think on your feet to knock me out and in turn made your victory possible. I want to travel with you"

After yet another translation Tracey took out a pokeball "You are sure right? That was the first fight I've ever-" Tracey was promptly cut off by Moltres tapping his beak to the pokeball which as the three before it captured immediately "oh" Tracey said stepping back in awe "okay"

"Well then" Misty sighed walking back over to the group "I think that's the end of today's adventure"

Ash nodded flipping a page in his book "I feel like we all should just be leaving and not saving the world for the next week and a half"

"Yeah I need to get back to the gym" Blue said looking around "Actually, how do we get back to the mainland Gramps? The helicopter left"

Professor Oak looked around "Oh" Oak sighed "So he has, I'll call him again to meet us in town" Oak said starting to walk by the cliff "Come on Blue hurry up!"

Blue nodded bringing his hand up to the group while walking away "I'll see you all later, anyone who wants a ride back to Kanto follow me"

Green, Yellow and Ash's clone, the latter carrying the knocked out man, said their goodbyes before walking off to follow Professor Oak and Blue leaving the four trainers, Melody and Team Rocket left at the ruins

"Welp" Melody said "I'm going to go home and try and forget today happened have fun" with that Melody walked off towards Shamouti leaving the thieves and trainers

"Now if I'm correct" Brock started looking at Team Rocket "we're headed the same way"

James laughed nervously bringing a hand to his head "Well our chances are probably! We're going to just" James started walking backwards grabbing Jesse and Meowth "go now" James backed away Jesse and Meowth running to catch up with him as they retreated down the cliff to the Magikarp sub

"Well" Misty said walking down the cliffside to the ocean beckoning the group to follow her " I suppose we should get back to gym badges huh?" she joked releasing Lapras and climbing on

Ash nodded flipping a page after he climbed onto Lapras back with the rest of the pokemon "No more world saving things for at least another month please"

Brock laughed jumping onto Lapras back and helping Tracey "Don't worry I think we're good for now, unless suddenly Arceus goes mad and starts destroying the world"

"Don't tempt fate Brock" Tracey sighed "One day that's going to happen"

Misty waved a hand at Tracey "Please I'm sure something that bad will never happen. Now Lapras let's keep going to..." Misty trailed off turning back to Tracey "Where is the last gym badge actually"

Tracey opened his map up scanning it "Let's see let's see" he pointed to an island just north of Shamouti "Kumquat Island just north from here, a day journey at most"

"Great!" Misty said turning back to Lapras "To the north to Kumquat Island"

* * *

Authors Corner: ITS FINALLY DONE, this chapter was plagued by tech issues, I lost the whole thing three times over and had to retype it all which was the reason for the couple month delay which I'm really sorry about I'm trying to make the chapters closer together but with school and the aforementioned tech issues it's been hard, but I'm proud of this chapter everyone got their own moment and everyone now has a legendary pokemon! Hopefully next chapter should be sooner. Also I've been thinking of starting a sort of writers blog for this for weekly updates between chapters so you want that please leave either a review or msg me with your opinion


	15. Chapter 15

Authors Corner: So I don't really know how many people read these but as of the time of writing this I haven't received any opinions on starting the sort of "writers blog" on the side of this project for weekly updates during the absurd breaks I keep taking so please any input positive or negative would be nice on that

* * *

We find our heroes predictably on the ocean hours after the incident at Shamouti on the way to Kumquat Island, Tracey had fallen asleep along with Brock leaving Ash, Misty and the rest of the pokemon sailing through the night

"We should probably find an island to stop at for the night soon" Misty said worriedly checking the map Tracey had passed to her before passing out "At this rate we'll be sailing through the dark"

Ash looked over Misty's shoulder to the map a grimace on his face as he flipped through his book "there's nothing marked around for miles, maybe a few unmarked islands but we can't trust them to not have aggressive pokemon, we're going to have to keep sailing" Ash leaned back before sitting back up groaning flipping another page "I just remembered, Oak was on Shamouti"

Misty nodded "And?" Ash brought the GS ball out of one of his bag pockets, Misty groaned as well turning back to the ocean "Arceus damn it, none of us remebered as well"

"To be fair" Ivysaur said "It was a rather hectic day it wasn't the most important thing"

"Boat!" Charizard yelled from above the group flying through the sky "Left side"

Lapras suddenly stopped a small boat passing by nearly hitting Lapras and the wind knocking Ash off Lapras. The boat swerved and stopped by Lapras a boy running out to the deck looking at the group "Oh Arceus I'm so sorry" Ash breached the top of the ocean spitting out some water "I didn't see you in the dark is everyone okay?"

Ash climbed back on Lapras nodding before flipping a page in his book "I'm alright, no one else fell off"

The boy breathed a sigh of relief "I'm sorry, I'm in a rush around these past two weeks. You need a lift though? I'm headed to Kumquat Island and it's the least I could do"

Misty nodded "That would be great actually, we were worried about sailing at night" she turned to Ash "Wake the other two I'll get the pokemon aboard"

"Someone wake Tracey I'll get Brock up" Ash said climbing over Lapras to where Brock was and shaking him "Wake up Brock or I'll throw you overboard"

"You know he can't hear you right?" Ivysaur pointed out

Ash nodded "Oh I know but" he shook Brock harder "it's fun to do honestly"

Brock yawned waking up "Morning" he looked at the night sky "or night. Why'd you wake me up?"

Ash flipped a page in his book "We've caught a ride to Kumquat on a boat instead"

Brock nodded looking at the boat with Misty and Charizard bringing the pokemon that couldn't swim or fly on board "makes sense, where's Tracey?"

Ash looked around, Tracey was in fact missing along with Blastoise despite his bag still being on Lapras. Ash flipped a page in his book "That's a good question" Ash closed his book turning to the pokemon "Where's Tracey"

Pikachu pointed at the water "Blastoise thought throwing him in the water would wake him up"

at that moment Tracey surfaced along with Blastoise shivering climbing aboard Lapras again "Next time please just slap me" he turned to Ash "Why"

Ash opened his book flipping a page "We've got a ride on a boat to Kumquat. In my defence I just told them to wake you up not throw you in the water" Ash turned to Blastoise "Good idea by the way"

Misty leaned over the side of the boat to the group "Everyone but Pikachu and you three are aboard!" she called "so hurry up so Lapras can rest"

Ash nodded putting arm out for Pikachu to jump on before jumping to a ladder off the side of the boat climbing up closely followed by Brock and Tracey

"Welcome aboard" the boy that had nearly crashed the boat said as Misty recalled Lapras "there's some sleeping quarters below deck if anyone needs to sleep. it's going to be roughly three and a half hours til we get to Kumquat"

Tracey nodded yawning "I think I'll take your offer of beds, and if you don't mind me asking what's your name?"

The boy smiled extending a hand "Tad pleasure to meet you"

Tracey took the hand "Tracey Sketchit" he gestured to Misty "that's Misty" then to Brock "that's Brock" and finally to Ash "And that's Ash"

Tad raised an eyebrow "Ash as in Ash Ketchum?"

"Hey someone finally recognised me" Ash said nodding "you would think winning the biggest tournament in the region would get you more recognition"

"if you don't mind me asking" Tad said "before we depart could I have a battle with you?"

Ash nodded flipping a page in his book "if you've got a battlefield sure, what ruleset?"

Tad gestured to the stairs leading below deck "We've got a battlefield and one on one sound good?"

Ash nodded heading down the stairs, leading to a hall with various doors which Tad explained as the sleeping quarters, Brock and Tracey each chose a room while Tad, Misty and Ash continued down the hall into an open room with a battlefield in the middle

Ash stood to the closest side while Tad walked across the battlefield to take his side, Misty sitting on the sidelines

Tad grabbed a pokeball from his belt "start on three?" Ash nodded turning to his pokemon

"Who wants to go?" Ash asked

Clefable stepped forward "I haven't had a fight for a while"

Ash nodded turning to Tad giving him a thumbs up "Three two" Tad's grip tightened on his pokeball and Clefable got ready to jump into the arena "one!"

Clefable jumped into the arena immediately starting a Cosmic Power as Tad threw his pokeball revealing a Poliwrath wearing a golden belt "Poliwrath won this belt back home for being the strongest pokemon in our village!" Tad explained as Ash examined the belt "Now Poliwrath Double Team" Poliwrath brought it's arms to its side as many copies of it spread out around the room

"Magical Leaf" Ash called out, Clefable's arms glowed green as many leaves appeared around it a purple energy surrounding them as they flew to Clefable's left hitting Poliwrath and causing the other copies to vanish "Thunderbolt" Clefable brought her hands together a yellow ball of electricity appearing between them which she fired at Poliwrath knocking it out

Tad whistled recalling Poliwrath "Everyone's been saying you're strong but that's even more than I expected, got any tips?"

Ash thought for a second while Clefable ran back over before flipping his book "the main issue there was you didn't have a way to counter Double Team getting broken and since many pokemon can do it with ease you should be prepared for that and ready to counter, I would recommend after using Double Team have the real Poliwrath move somewhere out of sight and out of attack range in preparation then go from there"

Tad nodded "thank you, sincerely, now let's see what I can do about getting everyone to Kumquat Island shall I?"

 **MEANWHILE IN PALLET TOWN**

In the dark nights of Pallet we find Ash's clone knocking on the door of Professor Oak's room book in hand

Oak opened the door slowly yawning "Ash? Why are you up so late"

Ash's cloned flipping a page in his book "We just got a.. rather interesting business offer from Kukui you need to see I can't just sign it off"

the Professor raised an eyebrow "It's not something bad right?" Ash's clone shook his head gesturing Oak to follow him, Ash's clone led the Professor to the study he had been working in and handed him a letter "Oh, that is interesting"

Ash's clone nodded flipping a page "Any idea what we could do about it?"

Oak thought for a second "I think I know just the person actually"

 **A FEW HOURS LATER IN THE ORANGE ARCHIPELAGO**

We find our heroes waiting on the bow of the boat Kumquat Island's docks nearing by the moment with the sight of Misty's fourth and final Orange Island gym badge nearing by the moment

"What do you think the challenge will be?" Tracey asked looking up from a sketch of a flying wingull "There's nothing about it on the map"

Misty shrugged "I'm hoping it's a battle, I want to see how Articuno will do"

the boat docked into the port at that point with Tad soon coming up to the deck "You four might want to go ahead" he said "I'm going to stay on the island for a few days before my challenge, but good luck!"

"Good luck to you too!" Misty said beginning to walk off the boat "and thanks for the ride"

the group made their way into town scanning the roads for any sign of the gym

Ash flipped a page in his book "Let's play another rousing round of 'where in the distortion world is the gym!' why do none of these islands have any directions!"

Brock thought for a second "actually that's a good point, why don't they?"

Tracey shrugged "originally the gyms were a secret, something to be told to people when they reached of age as a right of passage but the most recent champion changed it but it was so recent that directions and full descriptions of the gym haven't been added to the maps yet"

"Alola has a similar thing to be fair as well" Pikachu pointed out "except with seven trials instead of four gyms"

at that point the two missing psychic cats teleported in front of the group Ash nearly walking into them, Mew had a flower garland around their neck whilst Mewtwo was wearing Ash's hat "We're back!"

Mewtwo took the hat off his head and gave it to Ash "we picked up this on the way back"

"So!" Mew said floating around "What did we miss?"

"Well the world nearly flooded which would have caused the death of all sentient life that couldn't survive below water, and James, so you know a normal Tuesday" Ash said with a shrug

"And Lugia joined Ash's team" Ivysaur added "and Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno decided to travel with Tracey, Brock and Misty respectively"

Mewtwo sighed "we missed loads then, shame. So what's the next item on the agenda"

"My final gym badge!" Misty said "though we're having a hard time finding where it is" she sighed

"Have you tried simply asking people where the gym is?" Mewtwo pointed out

The group stopped "that" Brock said slowly "is an idea I can't believe none of us thought of"

The group spent the next half an hour walking around town asking random people here the gym was eventually being pointed in the direction of a hotel which was apparently owned by the leader of Kumquat Island named Luana

The group walked into the hotel, Brock immediately went to flirt with people in lobby before being stopped my Misty "Just go ask the receptionist" Misty sighed "I'll keep captain romance over here"

Tracey and Ash made their way to the front desk, "Sorry if it comes off as a strange request but can you point us in the direction of the Gym here?" Tracey asked the receptionist

the receptionist nodded "Fourth floor is entirely dedicated to the gym and training centers"

"Thank you!" Tracey said walking slightly away with Ash before gesturing Misty and Brock back over to them, Misty dragging Brock by his ear

"So?" Misty asked letting go of Brock

Ash flipped a page in his book "Fourth floor, whole thing apparently"

Misty shrugged "Surprisingly not the weirdest gym idea"

The group made their way over to the elevator and headed to the fourth floor

"You ever realise how odd we must look from an outsider's perspective?" Butterfree asked "I mean Ash all of us follow you everywhere and that's super cool that you let that happen but imagine how odd it must look to someone on the street to see nine pokemon, two of which are legendary pokemon rarely seen by man, following around a trainer, who may I add is also a pokemon"

Ash shrugged "I feel like if we give it another year or so no one will care"

The elevator dinged and opened into a large room another receptionist by another desk in the middle

Misty walked over to the receptionist "This is the floor for the gym right?" She asked

the receptionist nodded "If you're looking for a challenge go straight down that hall" she gestured to a hall to the left of the group "you can't miss it"

Misty thanked the receptionist than lead the group down the hallway, past many doors and into a large open room with a battlefield in the center and a small desk with a bell on it too one side

Misty walked up and dinged the bell, a few seconds later a woman walked out from a door opposite the arena "Greetings!" she called out taking position on one side of the battlefield "if you're here I assume you want a challenge no?"

Misty nodded taking position on the other side "I'm here for a challenge for sure, what's the stipulation?"

the woman took two pokeballs out "A double battle, but if one pokemon faints that side loses. Two a side do you agree to these terms?"

Misty nodded taking two pokeballs off from her belt "I do"

a referee ran out from the door the woman came from holding two flags up "The fight between the Gym Leader Luana and the challenger will now begin, Luana send your pokemon out first"

Luana nodded throwing her two pokeballs revealing a Marowak and an Alakazam

Misty threw her two pokeballs revealing Articuno and Dewgong

"it just occured to me" Tracey said "Was she waiting behind that door for a challenge all day?"

Brock sighed "I would be lying if I said I didn't sit on a rock all day waiting for challengers"

"Articuno Ice Beam Marowak!" Misty yelled, Articuno's mouth glowed bright blue for a second before firing a beam of pure cold at Marowak

"Stop it!" Alakazam's eyes glowed blue and the beam of cold stopped it

"Dewgong Safeguard!" Dewgong's horn glowed green and blue before a barrier appeared in front of it "Now!" Dewgong swung its head back then forward the barrier flinging away towards Alakazam, the barrier hit it forcing it backwards Alakazam's eyes stopped glowing and the beam of cold continued to hit Marowak which caused an explosion of mist and ice behind which Marowak was knocked out

The referee held a flag up to Misty "The challenger wins!"

Misty whistled as Articuno flew back along with Dewgong "You're more powerful than I thought, were you holding back on the island?"

Articuno scoffed "I would never dream of it"

Misty looked to Ash "translation?"

Ash flipped a page in his book "She said she wasn't"

Luana coughed "Sorry to interrupt" she presented Misty with a badge, a small purple conch shell with a yellow gem in its center "But you won fair and square here's the badge the Jade Star Badge" Misty happily took it "And if what I've been told is correct this is your last badge no?

Misty nodded putting the badge in the case with the other three "This is the last one"

Luana smiled "Well our leader, Drake, is taking challenges at any time on Pummelo Island just west of here whenever you're ready you can take a fight"

Misty grinned "Well I know my next destination! And thank's for the fight" Misty returned Dewgong and Articuno gesturing to the rest of the group to follow her as she headed out the room

The group made their way back to the docks passing by Tad on the way and set off on Lapras to Pummalo

* * *

Authors Corner: Wow this chapter was a lot shorter than I thought it would be, next one will be as well since there's only 2 really important things but one of them is the Drake fight which is going to be... a thing, so next chapter is the finale of the Orange Islands Arc so look forward to that since it will hopefully be out soon


	16. Chapter 16

Authors Corner: The Orange Archipelago arc will not be coming to a close in this chapter, this will be up to Drake while next chapter will contain the journey back to Kanto and the first Johto badge meaning this chapter's gonna be odd with only one important event before the fight which is a 6V6

* * *

We find our heroes perplexed on an island far from the coast of Kumquat Island, Ash and Brock hunched over a map with a compass, Tracey nearby studying the three legendary birds and sketching them while Misty trained by the ocean

Brock groaned "It makes no sense, we should've landed on Pummelo an hour ago with no other islands in the way"

Ash paused picking up the compass angling it to the direction the group had come from before groaning and sitting down

"What?" Clefable asked "What happened"

Ash flipped a page in his book speaking at the same time "We were meant to go due west, we headed slightly south west and landed on" he pointed at a small unnamed island just south west of Pummelo "this island where we are now" he pointed to Pummelo and an island named Tarraco north east of it "We thought Pummelo was Tarraco and so we missed it"

Brock leaned back on the ground sighing "That's actually impressive how badly we missed that, who was navigating?"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Me, never let me navigate on the ocean anymore"

Brock nodded "Let's just hope it doesn't become a trend" he turned to Tracey "Hey Tracey can you come and help us with something?"

Tracey waved a hand "just a second nearly finished"

Brock walked over "What are you doin-" then he tripped, hard, into Tracey dragging him with him past the three birds and directly in front of a Vileplume who in shock released a yellow powder over the two before running over

Ash stood up quickly "Someone grab Misty" he yelled over his shoulder running over to check on the two. They were both paralyzed and bad, powder moves had a lessened effect on human bodies most times

Misty ran over and sighed "I look away for five minutes" she looked over them "paralysis right?"

Ash nodded flipping a page in his book "It's going to either need Cheri Berries or Salveyo Weed"

Misty raised an eyebrow "Salveyo Weed?"

Ash flipped another page "Poliwag live off them but if prepared correctly they can cure paralysis there might be some on this island. They're found underwater in Poliwag lakes"

"And you know this how?" Misty asked "I mean usually you seem to be lost on medical things" she said with a laugh

Ash frowned flipping a page "I pay attention to Brock sometimes! And what do you mean 'lost on medical things'"

"Ash" Misty said putting a hand on his shoulder "You once got Blastoise electrocuted when he was still a Squirtle and then didn't now how to heal him and even I know how to treat electricity attacks"

Ash flipped another page "Fine I'm bad at medical things, but we need to cure these two"

Misty nodded "I'll look for some Salveyo Weed you check for Cheri Berries"

Ash nodded calling his pokemon over before heading out in the forest while Misty stayed with hers and the three birds that remained out of the pokeballs "I need you to fly over the island and if you see a lake check it for Poliwag if you find any try and find me"

The three birds took off around the island leaving Misty to set off in the forest leaving her pokemon to make sure nothing happened to Tracey and Brock while she searched with Togepi and Squirtle

Meanwhile unbeknownst to the two searching parties James and Meowth were on a similar venture as Jesse had experienced a similar attack of Stun Spore leaving the two Rockets to wander the forest in search of a cure

James sighed "Do we even know what we're looking for? all we have to go off of is the root is underwater"

"We could search for Cherri Berries" Meowth pointed out

James put his hand out to stop Meowth pointing with the other "That's one of the twerps isn't it?" in front of the duo Misty was hunched over a lake waiting

Meowth nodded "She looks like she's waitin' for something"

Misty was indeed waiting for something, having arrived at the edge of the lake she had sent Squirtle to check for Poliwag

Squirtle burst out the water with his paw up nodding "Good!" Misty said as Squirtle jumped back on land, she put down Togepi and stood up "Keep a watch out for me and I'll check for Salvayo" Misty put her bag on the ground taking a pair of goggles out and strapping them on before taking in a breath of air and diving in

Misty swam to the bottom of the lake looking for the plant examining the various plants before realising she had no clue what the Salvayo looked like, Misty sighed retreating to the surface to sit by the edge of the lake thinking before a Poliwag hopped next to her

Misty smiled at the Poliwag before a thought came to her "I don't mean to be rude" Misty said looking to the Poliwag "But could you help me find some Salvayo Weed?"

Poliwag jumped happily in what Misty assumed a yes before diving into the water, Misty took another breath adjusting her goggles before diving in after it. Misty followed Poliwag to the bottom of the lake again past many plants before Poliwag stopped next to a long green kelp Misty stopped to examine it before taking a small pocket knife out and cutting a large part of it off carrying the part she cut to the surface

"Thank you!" Misty said to Poliwag as she climbed back on land gesturing to Squirtle and Togepi to follow her as she set off back for the campsite the group had landed on, a short while later Misty noticed Poliwag following her. Misty knelt down to be on level with the small water type "Do you want to come with me?" she asked, Poliwag jumped happily nodding getting a grin from Misty "Great!" she began walking again allowing the water type to follow "You can meet Brock, Tracey and Ash you'll really like them" Misty continued to ramble as she walked back to the camp before being cut off by Team Rocket jumping from the trees in front of her

"Is that Salvayo Weed?" James asked pointing to the root in Misty's hand

Misty nodded "mmhmm. You're not going to try and rob me are you? Is Jesse behind a tree behind me with a net or something?"

Meowth quickly shook his head bringing his paws up "No no! We uh, need the root 'ya see, Misty's paralyzed and-"

Misty nodded "Say no more, I'll give it to you on one condition. When I'm fighting Drake, the leader of the orange crew, don't interrupt the match and you can have part of it"

James nodded "Of course!" Misty threw part of the pile of the root at the team "Thank you!" Meowth and James hurriedly grabbed the root before jumping back into the forests heading back to there campsite leaving Misty to return to her groups campsite which was just how she had left it, her pokemon huddled around Tracey and Brock and no sight of Ash

That was until Ash fell out of a tree. Followed by nearly all his pokemon.

"Well" Mewtwo said teleporting into the clearing "obviously Cheri Berries are not in trees as I said"

Ash waved his hand at the psychic cat "Well we had to check!" he grabbed his book sitting up and looking at Misty before flipping a page "No luck, you?"

Misty held up the Salvayo Weed "Lots actually!"

Ash nodded flipping another page "Good, we need to boil it I think"

The group set to work with all the pokemon on making the paralysis cure spending ten minutes making it before administering it to Brock and Tracey

The two trainers sat up soon after the cure was given to them "of thank Arceus" Tracey said with a sigh of relief "That was awful, never again. Never again"

Brock nodded "Agreed" he looked at Misty and then Poliwag "Who's your friend Misty?"

Misty picked up Poliwag "He helped me find the Salvayo Weed!" She put Poliwag down kneeling down to his level "And I've been meaning to ask, would you like to join me and my friends on a journey?" Poliwag jumped up and down happily

"He said yes" Mew pointed out

Misty grinned bringing a pokeball from her belt and tapping it against Poliwag a few seconds later it 'dinged' in success "So" Misty said standing up "Who's ready to go see this Drake person?"

The group headed off the island Pummelo once again coming into view and with proper guidance from Tracey the group arrived on the island in a bustling town that was overlooked by a stadium "well" Misty whispered as the group came to the beach "I think we know where the fight will take place"

"You need to register first" Tracey pointed out "The Town Hall doubles as a verification center"

The group landed on the beach the various pokemon and trainers climbing off as they had done many times before "You should get some rest before the fight" Misty said recalling Lapras

The group set off towards the town hall, Misty mentally preparing herself for the fight "Excited?" Brock asked catching up to the Cerulean Gym Leader who had ran ahead

Misty nodded "Nervous as well"

"Just think if it like a challenge from a trainer with eight badges" Brock said "You're not trying to do anything but win, don't worry about teaching any lessons or being flashy just win and enjoy yourself."

Misty took a deep breath "Thanks Brock, truly."

The group finished the walk arriving at the Town Hall arriving into the lobby, a stone dragonite statue stood to the left with a desk in the middle a receptionist waiting at the desk

Misty walked to the desk "I'm here to challenge Drake, can I register for a fight?"

The receptionist nodded "If you have all four gym badges from the Orange Crew you may, can I see your badges?"

Misty took her badge case out of her bag and passed it across the desk, the receptionist took the badges examining them before putting them into a scanner, the scanner beeped twice after a second and the receptionist smiled giving Misty her badges back "You're registered for a fight! It starts at Nine AM tomorrow morning but try and arrive at the stadium early"

Misty grinned taking her badges "I guess it's time to train then, is there anywhere we could stay for the night?"

The receptionist gave Misty a map "housing and training areas are all marked on the maps, the pokemon center is as well as the Palace of Victory if you wish to see the teams of trainers who have beaten Drake before"

The group said there goodbyes and made their way outside to a bench to discuss plans

"I would like to see this Palace of Victory before anything else" Misty said

Ash nodded flipping a page in his book "Afterwards I need to call Oak he'll want to know about this"

"And I need to get some more supplies from shops" Brock pointed out

"I do as well, after what happened before I'm carrying Cherri Berries everywhere I go" Tracey agreed

"And afterwards I guess training" Misty said standing up, the group set off using the map they were given to navigate to the Palace of Victory, a large domed building with a glass roof, the group walked in to see two stone Dragonite Statues flanking the entrance and pictures of different pokemon and their trainers along with the handprints of the pokemon and trainer in stone

the group looked around the room examining the different trainers and their pokemon "Think I can join them? They all look so strong"

"You've never been this worried before" Mewtwo pointed out "Now is not a good time to start, if you use strategy properly you can. It's up to you not the leader"

Misty hummed examining a picture of a trainer along with his team

The group soon left the Palace heading towards the pokemon center. With Brock being pulled back from flirting by Misty Ash headed to the video phone to call Professor Oak

Ash put in the Professor's number and called, his clone picked up breathing a sigh of relief dropping his book "Good afternoon" Ash's clone said sitting back in his chair

"Afternoon, we're going to be back to Kanto soon" Ash said pulling the GS Ball out of his bag "Forgot to give you this back at Shamouti, sorry about that" Ash shrugged

Ash's clone groaned "And I forgot as well. So why'd you call?"

"Misty's challenge to Drake is tomorrow, thought you and Oak would want to know since it should be televised"

Ash's clone grinned "I'll be sure to tell him, and basically every other gym leader, everyone's been excited for this Drake hasn't been defeated in years and Surge has started taking bets"

"Oh? And why has he been undefeated for so long do tell?" Ash asked an eyebrow raised "also tell Surge I have three hundred on Misty winning"

"His Dragonite" Ash's clone said writing down Ash's bet "Apparently it's been so long since he lost he's been considering retirement"

Ash rolled his eyes "Been there beat Blaine. It seems like a bit reversed doesn't it? Isn't the whole point of being a champion or whatever to keep your title, why vacate it without a loss"

Ash's clone shrugged "no clue" a loud crash echoed from behind him before a yell from Oak, Ash's clone sighed "And that's Charizard and Aerodactyl again. I've got to take care of this, give Misty my regards"

Ash nodded "See you soon, we'll be back to Kanto a week max" Ash's clone hung up the call after a curt nod leaving Ash to head back to the group, Ash flipped a page in his book after arriving "So apparently Drake hasn't lost a battle in ages thanks to his Dragonite"

"His Dragonite is legendary in the Orange Archipelago" Tracey added "He's not been defeated in nearly a year"

Misty sighed "Thanks for the vote of confidence"

Ash flipped another page "Actually everyone at home is cheering for you, Oak's getting all the other Gym Leaders together everyone at the lab is rooting for you"

Misty smiled "Surge is taking bets isn't he?"

Brock laughed looking at Ash's shocked expression "It's a tradition every time we get a new leader in or one of us challenges the Elite Four. He's done it for Blue, Janine at one time when Sabrina challenged the Elite Four"

Ash flipped another page "Well I have three-hundred on you Misty so don't let me down"

Misty rolled her eyes "I wasn't planning to"

The group left the pokecenter soon after, Brock and Tracey heading to a pokemart to buy more camping supplies while Misty and Ash booked a hotel room, soon Brock and Tracey returned and Misty headed out to train for the day, soon the day ended and the next morning we find our heroes on the way to the Pummelo Stadium

"We've got to go wait in the stands but we'll be cheering for you" Brock said after Misty got past the customs prepared for the fight, the sound of the crowd could already be heard from outside the arena

Ash flipped a page in his book "If you can't see us look for the mass of pokemon"

Misty nodded grinning "I'll be sure to look"

Tracey checked his watch "You've got two minutes left, good luck!"

Misty took a deep breath in turning to the hallway behind her leading into the main battlefield "I guess it's time"

Ash, Brock and Tracey said there goodbyes and headed to the stands finding seats in front of Team Rocket

A referee holding a microphone soon took the battlefield "Ladies and Gentlemen today is a day we've all been waiting for! Today our champion Drake has found a challenger" the crowed cheered louder, somewhere in the walls of the Stadium Misty stood taking deep breaths in "This challenger has swept through the Orange Crew but the question remains, will they be able to beat Drake" The crowd cheered louder before being silenced with a raise of the referee's hand "Now! The challenger shall take her place in the arena. Please welcome Misty Waterflower"

Misty raised her head staring determined at the hallway before making the trek down the hallway, the bright light widened as she got closer before opening to her side of the field currently a barren stretch of land

"And now!" the announcer yelled after Misty took her place "The champion! Drake Kairyu" A young man with spiked hair walked out from his tunnel a pokeball strung around his neck before taking his place

"I hope you can give me a good fight" Drake yelled taking a pokeball of his belt, Misty doing the same

Misty grinned holding her pokeball up "I hope the same!"

The ring started moving falling into the ground "The arena shall change throughout the battle! After one trainer has lost three pokemon it will change again" The arena revealed itself a rocky terrain with a pool of water in the middle

Misty tossed her pokeball revealing Starmie, Drake threw his revealing a Ditto

Misty bit the inside of her cheek thinking, Drake letting her have the first move "Camouflage" Starmie's body glowed green for a second before disappearing from sight "Move while staying out of sight"

 **MEANWHILE IN PALLET TOWN**

We find many gym leaders, a professor, an assistant, three heroes of Kanto and a photographer gathered around a TV watching the match intensely

"What's she doing?" Surge asked with a cocked eyebrow "She trying to wait out Drake or something?"

Green shrugged "It's got to be some part of a plan, you should've seen her on Shamouti!"

Todd, who had been silent up until then, spoke up "I think I understand, Ditto can only transform based of sight Misty's making Starmie impossible to see leaving Ditto open"

Sabrina nodded "It's often how I dealt with Ditto's in my own gym"

"Confuse ray!" Misty yelled heard by the group through the TV, Starmie jumped from the ground behind Ditto into the air, Ditto turned in time to see Starmie's gem glowing purple before Starmie landed on the ground disappearing again Ditto now confusedly stumbling around

Blaine rolled his eyes "Stupid boy should've used transform in those seconds Ditto is done for"

Erika laughed "Oh please Blaine you would've missed that and you know it"

"if I was paying attention I wouldn't" Blaine grumbled

"Hey shut up a second something's happening" Red yelled over Blaine, Starmie jumped from the water the liquid forming a shield around it before it firing at a blazing speed at Ditto in a move resembling Hydro Pump, the move hit Ditto square in the back despite Drake's call to dodge it. Ditto crashed into a rock falling down when the water stopped hitting it knocked out

More than half the room erupted in cheers when the referee raised a flag to Misty "I told you!" Brock's father laughed pointing at one of Misty's sisters who was groaning "I told you she would beat Drake's first without even getting hit!" Flint looked to the other cheering trainers "Didn't I tell her that!"

Lily sighed "Yes, yes you did. At least I didn't bet against her" Lily said glaring at Red who raised his hands defensively

"Hey I'm just saying the last time I saw her was seven years ago and Drake is strong" Red said crossing his arms

Blue laughed "Didn't she set a Gyarados on you or something just to prove a point?"

Red sighed nodding "It's not one of my proudest moments"

 **BACK IN THE ARENA**

Drake grinned madly recalling his Ditto "That" he said decidedly grabbing another pokeball "was one of the most impressive things I've seen on this job"

Misty shrugged "I've seen a lot of Ditto's before I've had to learn how to deal with them"

The referee raised his flags "Drake your next pokemon"

Drake tossed his pokeball revealing a Venusaur, Misty sighed recalling Starmie and throwing a pokeball revealing Lapras

"Begin!" The referee called into his microphone

Misty grimaced "We're going to need mobility, Ice beam the ground!" Lapras began using ice beam all around himself skating along the ice heading towards Venusaur

"Solar Beam!" Drake called, Lapras began to charge an attack but was stopped by crashing into a rock and by the time he had recovered Venusaur had fully charged "now" the flower on Venusaur's back was glowing a bright white and soon the light exploded in a beam hitting Lapras directly smoke flying everywhere, when it died down however Lapras was still standing

"While it's recharging Sheer Cold!" Lapras glowed a bright white before calling to the sky. Then Lapras seemingly exploded in a bright blue light as Ice covered the arena, unable to move out the way Venusaur was covered and knocked out

The referee raised a flag towards Misty "Misty Waterflower wins round two"

Drake recalled Venusaur surprised "Well I'll be damned that's a first, usually it either misses or is a knock out" Drake whispered taking another pokeball off his belt

 **MEANWHILE IN THE STANDS**

"Misty's doing great!" Tracey yelled over the cheers of the crowd

Brock nodded "She still hasn't seen his Dragonite though it could be tough"

"We found it yesterday" James sighed holding an icepack to his cheek "It's tough"

Ash raised an eyebrow flipping a page in his book "Oh, and why were you fighting his Dragonite didn't Misty make a deal with you?"

"Hey we didn't start it!" Jesse yelled as the crowd cheered when Drake sent out Onix "He attacked us when he saw our outfits"

"Maybe you should get other clothes" Mewtwo pointed out

 **BACK IN THE ARENA**

Misty recalled Lapras looking at the rock snake thinking before throwing another pokeball revealing Dewgong, Drake grinned wildly at this

"Dig!" Onix swiftly went head first into the dirt piercing the ice

Misty grimaced "Aqua Jet straight up" Water formed around Dewgong before he boosted straight into the sky high above the arena

"Dragonbreath" Onix exploded from under the ice at an insane speed mouth glowing bright green. Unable to move in the air Dewgong was hit point blank falling to the ground Dewgong wasn't knocked out but on attempting to get up was paralyzed "Double Edge!" Onix glowed gold slamming down into Dewgong knocking the ice type out

the referee raised a flag to Drake "Drake wins the round, Misty send out your next pokemon"

Misty recalled Dewgong with a sigh before sending Lapras back out

"Bind!" Onix sped across the battlefield wrapping its tail around Lapras before the water type could move beginning to crush it

"Hydro Pump!" Lapras released a bright blue jet of water into the rock types face Onix yelled releasing Lapras "Ice Beam" Lapras wheeled around after hitting the floor mouth glowing a bright blue before releasing an ice beam straight at Onix freezing and knocking the rock type out

Lapras panted falling over, Misty recalled him quickly "I forfeit Lapras"

The referee raised both his flags "Misty removes Lapras from the fight and Drake has lost half his pokemon, the arena shall change"

The battlefield shook descending into the arena while the two trainers took ahold of a pokeball each. When the arena raised back up it was a sandy desert that was entirely flat

The referee raised his flags again "Begin!"

Misty and Drake threw their pokeballs at once revealing Golduck and a Gengar

"Hypnosis" Drake called to Gengar. Gengar put its hands together before they glowed black sending dark circles at Golduck

"Roll left" Golduck dived to the left kicking up off the ground into the air partway through "Water Pulse" Golduck formed a ball of water in mid air and fired it at Gengar hitting the ghost type head on sending it to the ground "Zen Headbutt!" Golduck flipped down in mid air head glowing blue as he dived towards Gengar

Golduck fired towards the ground prepared to hit Gengar nearing it by the moments "Sucker Punch!" Gengar flipped up in one fluid motion punching Golduck square in the jaw sending him back towards Misty with a heavy crack "Shadow Ball" Gengar's hands sparked blue before he brought them together forming a black ball that he fired at Golduck

"Reverse!" Drake raised an eyebrow confused as Golduck kicked off the ground eyes glowing blue, as the Shadow Ball neared Golduck he dived under it then the Shadow Ball glowed blue before firing backwards straight at Gengar. Both the ghost type and its trainer were too shocked to move and the attack slammed straight into Gengar sending it backwards "Confusion" Golduck's eyes glowed red before firing a beam into the stunned ghost type knocking it out

 **MEANWHILE IN THE STANDS**

"Well I'll be damned" Ash said eyes wide "that's new, how does that even work it's a ghost type move"

Mewtwo shrugged "I think it has to do with manipulating the unique energies ghost type moves give off in order to change it's trajectory in one quick pulse it's not directly controlling the shadow ball but the area around it"

"huh, neat" Ash turned back to the battlefield "think Misty can win this round too?" he asked no one in particular

"Probably" Butterfree said with a light flap of his wings "with the way the other rounds have been she's at a massive advantage"

"The Dragonite might be next though" Pidgeot added "And if the rumors are true it could be an issue"

Pikachu waved a paw "She's got this no problem, rumors are barely ever true"

"There's a rumor about how there's a hero named Ash Ketchum traveling with three friends in partnership with legendary pokemon stopping world ending events" Oricorio pointed out "and I have knowledge that one holds a very stable ground"

Ash hummed thoughtfully "Still that's only one"

"Also recently rumors have been popping up about a psychic legendary cloned by an evil team attempting to enslave all of humanity" Oricorio added

"And of three Legendary Birds being captured by a group of friends who have saved the world" Charizard added with a grin

Pikachu groaned "Alright you've got me, rumors can be true alright? Happy!"

Oricorio nodded "Quite"

 **BACK IN THE ARENA**

Drake threw his fifth pokeball revealing an Electabuzz. Mitsy recalled Golduck thinking before throwing a pokeball revealing Starmie

"Confuse Ray!" Misty called, Starmie's gem glowed purple as it had before along with Electabuzz's eyes and soon the electric type was stumbling confused "Recover" Starmie glowed green and soon the miniscule damage it had taken during its first round had disappeared Drake bit his lip thinking keeping a close eye on Misty's pokemon "kick up dust with Rapid Spin" Starmie rapidly started spinning slowly edging closer to Electabuzz while dust clouds formed around it

"Thunder Punch!" Electabuzz's hands glowed bright yellow with electricity before it lunged, towards the ground, Electabuzz hit the dusty ground with a loud thud as dust surrounded it neither Misty nor Drake being able to see anything through it

"Swift!" a bright white light could be seen through the dust as unseen by the group Starmie released multiple bright stars at Electabuzz all of them making direct contact "Psywave" a bright purple light parted the dust cloud as Starmie's gem glowed brighter before Electabuzz stumbled to its feet then promptly passed out

The referee raised a flag to Misty "Misty wins the round, Drake send out your final pokemon"

Drake recalled Electabuzz bringing a hand to the pokeball around his neck "Only three other people have got this far before Misty and none of them have beat my final pokemon" he unclipped the pokeball bringing it to his hand "Here's my strongest, Dragonite!"

The Dragonite arrived on the field with a roar and after the referee began the match it lunged forward without a word from Drake a hand sparking with yellow electricity that connected with Starmie in a miniature explosion knocking the starfish out

 **MEANWHILE IN PALLET TOWN**

"Holy Arceus" Yellow muttered under her breath as the referee announced Misty's pokemon knocked out "Do you think she can still win?"

"This!" Red called pointing at the screen "This is what I was talking about"

Blue nodded "She can still win. Also, shut up Red"

"How long do you think he's been training that Dragonite" Green asked with a raised eyebrow "Ten, fifteen years?"

"It was his starter" Sabrina said "Got it as a Dratini" the group starred at Sabrina confused "What? I'm a psychic aren't I?"

The group gave a collective shrug turning back to the screen

 **MEANWHILE BACK IN THE ARENA**

Misty grimaced throwing her next pokeball revealing Gyarados

Dragonite once again charged with a Thunder Punch ready closing in on Gyarados "Twister!" the crest of Gyarados's head glowed white for a split second before a tornado flew from it stopping Dragonite in its path knocking it back "Ice Fang!" Gyarados slid along the ground to the stunned dragon type jaws glowing a bright blue before biting it dragging the dragon down to the ground "Hyper Beam!" Gyarados pulled back from Dragonite keeping the Dragon Type on the ground with its tail as it began to charge the attack

"Dragon Rush!" Dragonite glowed blue as it grabbed Gyarados's tail swinging it over itself in one quick movement slamming the water type into the dusty ground the beam shooting wildly into the sky "Return fire Hyper Beam" Dragonite held Gyarados down for a moment before firing a beam of white light at it from one hand causing an explosion to rock the battlefield and knock out Gyarados

Misty recalled Gyarados as the referee made his calls of the round, when it was time Misty threw her pokeball revealing Golduck

"Disable!" unable to move from the effects of Hyper Beam Dragonite couldn't dodge as Golduck's eyes glowed red causing a red box of energy to form around Dragonite

"Outrage!" Dragonite glowed red beginning to pound the box cracks appearing in it

"Me First!" Golduck's eyes changed to a soft orange like fire before he also glowed red dropping the box to rush Dragonite. Dragonite met Golduck head on in a stalemate before they both jumped back facing each other the red glow dying down "Water Pulse" Golduck brought his hands together forming a ball of high powered water to fire at Dragonite

"Wing Attack!" Dragonite's wings flapped at a high speed releasing white rays at Golduck who fired the Water Pulse as he was hit, the ball of water hit Dragonite soon after sending the Dragon Type reeling back clear damage now visible

"Drake wins the round, Misty send out your final pokemon!" the referee raised a flag to Drake

Misty thought for a second before grinning taking one last pokeball of her belt tossing it to reveal Articuno

"Freeze Dry!" Articuno took of into the sky in a burst of speed blue light forming at the tips of her wings before the light fired hitting Dragonite sending the Dragon onto its back "Blizzard" Articuno took to a hover flapping her wings faster and faster before a small snowstorm appeared in front of her flying towards Dragonite

"Hyper Beam!" Dragonite rolled onto its back before firing a beam of white light out of its mouth nearly passing out in the snowstorm

"Reflect!" Articuno glowed a bright green and when the beam hit her it bounced back straight in reverse hitting Dragonite dead on causing a large explosion to rock the area

The explosion died down and Dragonite was knocked out on its back "Misty Waterflower wins the match!" The referee yelled bringing a flag up to Misty

Drake recalled Dragonite and walked across the field to meet Misty in the middle "You've done well to beat me" a man appeared from Drake's tunnel holding a trophy of a golden pokeball on a stand with two wings. Drake took the trophy "I present to you the Orange League Victors Trophy and offer you the opportunity to take my spot as champion of the Orange Crew"

Misty carefully took the trophy as Articuno landed behind her "I can't take the title" Misty said with a grin "I have some friends I'm traveling with and I don't want to let them down, but thank you"

Drake nodded "Either way you can follow me to be immortalised with your pokemon in the Palace of Victors, bring your friends"

Misty's pokemon were swiftly healed as she met back up with Ash, Brock and Tracey before the group followed Drake to the Palace of Victors wherein sat a block of wet clay in the middle "Let your pokemon put there footprints in the clay along with yours and you'll be immortalised here for all to say" Drake said

Misty nodded releasing her pokemon and heading towards the clay

 **MEANWHILE BACK IN PALLET**

"Pay up!" Surge called gathering everyone around the table "Red, Janine you both owe me one hundred!" Red and Janine grumbled passing money over to the veteran as he gave out money to the others "Save six hundred for Ash okay prof?" Surge asked giving the Oak extra money

Blue grinned looking over to Red "So what's that about a dragonite?"

Red leaned his head on the table "Shut up"

Todd smiled heading out the door "Sorry to cut this short but I've got a flight to catch! Tell Ash I said hi" Todd promptly left as the rest of the group gathered their things

The rest of the group that didn't live in Pallet said there goodbyes and headed home respectively. Gary stood up from where he had been sitting in the corner "Gramps can you answer a question for me?"

The Professor nodded turning to his grandson "Of course, what is it?"

"Do you think this rivalry I have with Ash is a good thing?" Gary slumped further into his chair "It just seems like he's been one step ahead of me all the time and we've never had a proper fight"

The professor sat down next to Gary "That's a hard question Gary, not a bad one mind you, I personally think it's a great thing to have a rival and someone to compete with but maybe try to mellow out some? Stay rivals and in competition but help each other if needed. Train more but don't hurt yourself doing it"

Gary thought on the words for a moment before standing up "You're probably right" he muttered picking up his coat "Tell Ash I'm going to Johto if he wants to see me" Gary opened the door slinging his coat on "and tell him I'm sorry"

 **BACK ON PUMMELO**

We find our heroes heading down the docks prepared to set sail again towards Pallet

"You know" Misty sighed releasing Lapras at the end of the dock letting everyone climb on "The one bad thing about this is we never found Lapras family"

Ash flipped a page in his book "That's true but Lapras migrations pass by Pallet around this time of year so who knows"

Brock nodded "that's true, all we can do is hope"

The group set sail "Yeah, let's just hope" Misty said

* * *

Authors Corner: This chapter was reallly fun to write and I'm quite proud of it. Next chapter will be up til the first Johto gym so it may take some time. Drake's last name is Dragonite's Japanese name and Gary's character development has started


	17. Chapter 17

Authors Corner: Johto time! This region is going to be the longest so far, 3 movies 8 gyms and 1 league, so I'm excited to start

* * *

We find our heroes sailing along the northern regions of the Orange Archipelago nearing the Seafoam Islands when Lapras suddenly veered a hard left

"Woah!" Misty yelled nearly falling off "What was that for?"

Lapras called back and the group turned to Ash for translation

Ash turned a page in his book surprised "He says he senses his pack!" Lapras sped up along with the various pokemon in the sky. Ash grimaced flipping another page "And he says they're in trouble, be prepared for a fight"

Tracey brought a hand to one of his pokeballs "What type of fight? he asked slowly

Ash flipped another page "Poacher type of fight" over the waves a pirate ship came into view with many Tentacruel surrounding a pack of Lapras "That's them!" Ash dropped his book and hat before diving into the water turning into a floatzel

"We need a plan" Brock said grabbing a pokeball "Misty you go with Ash in the water, I'll go to the sky and Tracey you stay with Lapras"

Misty nodded releasing Gyarados and Articuno jumping onto Gyarados and swimming, Brock released Aerodactyl and Zapdos and took of himself leaving Tracey with Scyther, Moltres and Ash's pokemon that couldn't fly

The fight didn't last long

Ash quickly rose from the water kicking one of the Tentacruel before landing on the back of Lugia who he had called before jumping off the boat, the legendary then turned to the pirate ship which quickly fled Lugia following along with Brock

Meanwhile Misty had arrived next to the Lapras and had quickly released the rest of her water types to fend off the Tentacruel, Ash's pokemon were spreading attacks all over the arena while Scyther jumped from Tentacruel to Tentacruel hitting each of them in a row

The fight ended soon after as the Tentacruel fled after the ship and Brock and Ash returned empty handed

Lapras soon edged closer to the herd and one of them swam out to meet him the duo exchanged calls tears welling in their eyes "Lapras" Misty whispered "is this your pack?"

Lapras nodded happily swimming closer to the herd before stopping "You want to go back right?" Misty asked confused

Lapras called back "He said he's not sure if you'll have a way back home, or if you'll be alright without him" Mewtwo translated

"Oh Lapras" Misty jumped off Gyarados to swim next to Lapras "It's going to be alright you should go with your family" Lapras nodded happily as Tracey ushered all the land bound pokemon on Zapdos and Charizard "And thank you truly" Misty had tears in her eyes as Lapras returned to his pack and swam off taking one last look at his trainer

The various pokemon and trainers set off again across the sky heading to Kanto

"Misty" Brock asked slowly as Pallet came into view "are you okay?"

Misty wiped a tear from her eye "No, but I will be"

The group landed in Kanto around the edges of Oak's ranch the laboratory coming into view "Finally!" Tracey yelled "That's it right? Professor Oak's lab"

Ash nodded helping his pokemon down from the various pokemon they were riding on before flipping a page "Yeah, he rarely leaves the house unless he's getting food or it's a tournament so he should be in"

Tracey recalled Moltres before taking off towards the lab as quick as he could leaving the others to catch up "He's excited" Misty smirked recalling Articuno "I wonder why"

The rest of the group gathered their bags before taking off after Tracey who had arrived at the backdoor of the lab and was knocking

As the group arrived at the door it was opened revealing Professor Oak "Ah, back from holiday I see?" Oak laughed moving aside to let the group in "Come in come in"

Tracey took a deep breath before walking into the room letting the others in behind him "Professor Oak if it's okay could I show you some of my sketches?"

Oak nodded gesturing to a table with chairs around it "Of course Ash tells me you're a great artist please all of you have a seat"

Ash and his friends took seats around the table along with the professor, Ash quickly took the GS ball out of his bag and passed it to the professor who nodded before putting it in one of his coat pockets "Is he normally this nice?" Tracey whispered to Brock

The gym leader laughed "Always, Oak is very down to earth"

Tracey raised an eyebrow "Was that a rock joke?"

Brock grinned "Maybe"

"So Tracey if I could see these sketches?" Oak asked

Tracey nodded quickly bringing his sketch book out of his bag and passing it across the table to the professor who started flipping through it before setting it down "Tracey I have one question for you, what was your true intention of showing me this book?" The professor asked seriously

"In all honesty" Tracey said "I wished to become your assistant, you've been an idol to me since I was young and I thought I could impress you so you would let me work with you"

the professor closed the book passing it back to Tracey "I can't offer you a job as an assistant Ash's clone does that job for me" Tracey sighed putting his book back in his bag "But!" Tracey looked back up surprised" I did recently receive a very strange offer. You see a friend of mine, Professor Kukui, has requested I make a pokedex with drawings of pokemon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos and Alola and if I am correct this book contains every pokemon native to Kanto and the Orange Islands including legendary pokemon correct?"

Tracey nodded "I finished it on the way here, one hundred and fifty one pokemon. And Oricorio" Tracey smiled slightly looking to the Alolan bird before looking back to Oak "But why are you telling me this?"

The Professor Smiled taking a small badge out of a pocket in his lab coat in the shape of a pokeball with an oak tree in the middle "I want to ask you to take this job on. Kukui has given us as much time as we want to complete this and it would allow you to continue travelling with your friends"

Tracey's eyes widened "Of course it would be an honour"

the professor smiled passing the badge over "This identifies you as a researcher of my lab" the professor turned to Ash who had been talking with the other pokemon "Oh and Ash" Ash looked up from his conversation "Gary is heading to Johto if you don't know where to go next, and he said he's sorry"

Ash smiled flipping a page in his book "I was going to head to Johto next actually if everyone else was okay with coming" Ash looked around the table flipping another page "and since I've been meaning to ask, who wants to come to Johto?"

Brock shrugged "I was going to see my brothers and dad but after that we could meet up somewhere in Johto"

Misty nodded "and I need to make sure my sisters don't do anything stupid like leave the gym and expect me to come and take care of it for years on end"

Tracey grinned clipping the badge onto his shirt "I'll come, but where will we meet up"

"I have a map of Johto in the back" Professor Oak said standing up "I'll get it for you" The professor left the table leaving the three trainers to continue discussing their respective plans until he returned putting a map of the Kanto and Johto area down on the table "The only way to get to Johto on foot is to follow a rough path around the edge of Mount Silver, but it should only be an hour or two to get to New Bark Town"

Ash held a hand to his chin before flipping a page in his book "Me and Tracey could take that path than Brock and Misty could take a boat from Vermillion to Cherrygrove and we go from there"

Tracey shrugged finishing clipping the badge to his bag "I'm okay with that, maybe we could find some new pokemon as well along the way"

Brock took a small chart out of his coat examining it "The next boat from Vermillion to Cherrygrove leaves tomorrow so we could make it"

"Worst comes to worst we can swim!" Misty laughed "I can easily make that so nothing wrong from me"

Ash flipped another page "Then we can all set out whenever we're ready. I'm prepared anytime, you Tracey?"

Tracey nodded standing up "Of course!"

"Well I'm going to head for Cerulean now" Misty said "Would be quicker if I had a bike..."

Ash leaned back in his chair flipping another page in his book "It's been more than a year Misty! You could have brought one by now"

Misty laughed slinging her bag over her shoulder "Or I could keep going on about this for another year" Misty headed towards the door "See you in Johto!" the orange haired gym leader left the building heading towards Cerulean City

"You know you could probably have brought her one by now right?" Brock said packing up his bag before heading towards the door "I'm going to go see my family, see you tomorrow" Brock released Aerodactyl climbed on then flew off towards Pewter

Tracey raised an eyebrow "What bike?"

Ash sighed flipping another page "I'll tell you on the way"

Pikachu stifled a laugh climbing on Ash's shoulder "One day a lack of bike is going to cause the end of the world according to Misty"

Oricorio shook his head "I give it a month most"

The two trainers and their pokemon headed out from Pallet saying their goodbyes before leaving on the path to Johto walking for an hour through thick forests the trees slowly beginning to show pokemon native to Johto with less Kanto natives being seen, Tracey sketching the pokemon he had yet to see. The group passed by clear lakes holding new watertypes and continued forward until Ash suddenly stopped Tracey

Ash pointed slowly to a lake nearly impossible to see through a thick fog in front of the group, standing perfectly on top of the water was Suicune yet to see the group, Ash slowly raised his book flipping a page silently "Now quietly get out of sight" the various members of the group silently made there way to hiding spots, Tracey when out of sight took his sketch book out and started drawing "What do you think they're waiting for?" Ash asked to the pokemon that had hidden with him

Mewtwo's brow furrowed "I... I don't know she shouldn't be here" Mewtwo shook his head "not for a few months anyway"

Clefable looked at the psychic cat confused "what do you mean 'shouldn't be here'"

Mewtwo stopped for a second of guard "I mean that this is outside of Suicune's usual area. She usually sticks to the cities in the north"

"How would you know that?" Butterfree asked "I don't mean to come of as rude but you were created by Team Rocket correct?"

"I told him!" Mew said quickly "I mean he needs to know what areas we might find my friends right?"

Clefable turned back to Suicune a confused expression on her face "I guess that makes sense"

Suicune looked left and right seemingly looking for something "Still doesn't answer the question of what she's waiting for" Ash said looking to Tracey who had been glancing out from behind a tree periodically trying to mask the sound of his drawing with leaves being rustled by Marill "And why she's so near Kanto"

Tracey silently made his way to Ash closing his book "The sketch is done, what now?"

Ash looked out from his hiding spot flipping a page in his book "I'm going to go out alone, be prepared in case anything happens" Tracey nodded. Ash stepped out from his hiding spot slowly walking towards the lake

The legendary starred at the trainer as he stopped at the edge of the lake "Finally you come out from there"

Ash raised an eyebrow "You knew we were hiding?"

The legendary nodded "of course, your friend was not very good at hiding his actions"

"And you stayed because?" Ash asked quickly glancing at Tracey

"Because I come with a message" Suicune paused thinking "I suppose a warning would be more accurate"

Ash sighed "This isn't another world ending event right? Because It's been a few months and I've got two on a list now"

Suicune laughed "I'm sorry to disappoint but it's along those lines, more timeline destroying however" Ash rolled his hand gesturing Suicune to continue "In a few months the one that rules time will be captured. This event is directly connected to your travels, and more specifically your ability to carry the item you know as the GS ball across the lands"

Ash groaned "We may have given it to Professor Oak less than three hours ago"

Suicune shook her head "I am aware and have arranged it to be returned to you. Guard it with your life chosen as it will be needed" Suicune turned and jumped to the other edge of the lake before looking back "and be aware, my brothers and I will be following you" with that Suicune jumped off into the forest the mist leaving with her

Tracey walked out from behind the tree looking perplexed "What did they want?"

Ash picked up his book flipping a page "To tell us about another life threatening event. This time it will apparently kill time itself"

"oh" Tracey said "how long do we have?"

Ash shrugged flipping another page "Few months wasn't very specific. We should keep walking"

"yeah" Tracey agreed packed his sketchbook into his bag and the group continued walking "so, what's this whole thing about a bike?"

Ash hung his head low flipping another page "it's a long, dumb, story"

The story of the bike was told on the final leg of the journey towards New Bark Town and an hour later the group had arrived through the trees into the small town "Did you pick up a map?" Tracey asked looking slightly concerned "Because I have no clue where we're meant to go from here"

Ash shrugged turning a page in his book "when it doubt, look for a pokecenter" Ash pointed towards the orange roofed building that was nearby "And we don't have to look far"

the group made their way to the pokecenter continuing the discussion of Suicune's warning coming to one conclusion. It was vague and useless. The group went to the main desk after this amazing discovery

"Excuse me would you happen to have a map of Johto on hand?" Tracey asked to the nurse "and possibly one to buy"

The nurse nodded reaching below the desk grabbing a map and putting it on the desk "First time in the region?"

Tracey nodded bringing a wallet out of a pocket "Yeah, we just got here from Kanto"

The nurse smiled "It's a long walk. Would either of you like to register for the league?"

Ash raised a hand flipping a page in his book "I would, Ash Ketchum aged eleven"

The Nurse smiled typing onto a computer "We received a message for you less than an hour ago" The nurse took a small package out from under the desk "From Professor Oak. The map is free by the way"

Tracey fumbled his wallet back into his pocket and took the map "Thank you" he said quickly pocketing the map

The nurse waved a hand "It's no issue. You're registered for the league" The nurse put a badge case on the desk "Thank you for coming"

Ash took the parcel and badge case sitting down on a nearby bench gesturing with his free hand to Tracey to sit down "Do you think the professor forgot something?" Tracey asked looking at the package confused "it's been less than three hours"

Ash shrugged ripping the tape off and opening it, inside was a note and the GS ball. Ash took the note out flipping it open

"Dear Ash. I'm sure you're wondering why I've sent this considering we've seen each other less then a day ago. As you may have guessed by the other item in this package the various tests we've done on the GS ball were unsuccessful" Ash took the pokeball out of the package examining it "Despite it only having been an hour we've tried everything we've had lined up for it. I now request for you to bring it to Kurt the creator of the pokeball in Azalea town and ask him to open it. Yours truly, Professor Samuel Oak"

Tracey raised an eyebrow looking at the note over the shoulder of Ash "So soon huh? You would think experiments would take more than an hour"

Ash shrugged picking his book back up "Considering what Suicune said I'm willing to bet someone interfered with it" Ash slipped the GS ball and note into his bag "We should probably get going, don't want to miss Brock and Misty"

Tracey took the map out checking it over "It's only one route away we could probably make it in a few hours. That is without any Team Rocket attacks or general shenanigans though"

Ash flipped another page in his book "It once took us three weeks to get from Fuchsia city's gym to the city itself. I'm taking no chances"

Tracey raised an eyebrow "You're kidding right?" the various pokemon that had been present during the journey shook their heads "Well then we better get going"

The group set off from the centre making their way to Route 28 leaving the small town behind them

"You know it's pretty weird for me" Tracey said absentmindedly as the group set off "This is the first time I've been in a region which isn't ninety percent water"

"No it's not!" Mew said taking in the sights of the route "you were in Kanto for roughly an hour"

Tracey shrugged "Okay that's fair"

"And we were on the border of Hoenn for roughly two minutes" Mewtwo added a slight smile on his face

Tracey rolled his eyes "That doesn't count and you know it"

Ash grinned taking his book out "And if you want to be super specific we were on the border of Oblivia whilst on Mikan island"

Tracey groaned "I get it! And that last one's mostly water"

"We may want to stand back" Oricorio raised a wing directing the attention of the pokemon that could understand him to a girl in a stripped yellow and black overcoat, a hat with a lightning bolt on it covering purple messy purple hair. The girl was currently instructing a Chikorita on razor leaf amidst multiple baseball jokes

The group continued to watch as a Rattata jumped out of a nearby bush the girl focusing on it in an instant. A quick call of tackle came from the trainer and the Chikorita was hurtling at the Rattata knocking it far back next to the group, the girl tossed a pokeball as one would throw a baseball the pokeball colliding with the Rattata capturing it after three shakes

Ash clapped as the girl came over to pick up the pokeball recalling her Chikorita with another "Thanks!" she took a good look at Ash, more focusing on Pikachu than anything "Hey is that a Pikachu?"

Ash nodded flipping a page in his book "Yeah, we've been together for about a year now"

The trainers eyes lit up "I've never seen one in person" she looked Pikachu up and down much to the confusion of Ash and the various other pokemon taking perch on the trainer "Hey could you shock me? I've always wondered what it felt like"

Tracey coughed lightly taking the attention away from the very concerned trainer and pokemon "I'm sorry but I don't think any of us have had introductions yet"

The trainers head snapped quickly away from Pikachu to Tracey "Yeah sorry, my mum always said I had issues with obsession and masochistic tendancys don't know why..." the girl trailed off "Anyway I'm Casey, Casey Williams!"

Tracey nodded "Tracey Sketchit at your service" Tracey gestured to Ash "And this is Ash Ketchum" Ash waved

Casey raised an eyebrow confused "Why don't you do your own introductions?"

Ash flipped a page in his book "I'm mute"

Casey mouthed a silent oh "Sorry if I came off as rude"

Ash waved a hand "No harm no foul. So what's with your ever so slight obsession with my bud? And the shock's are painful for the record" The various pokemon that had suffered electric shocks during training nodded

Casey laughed awkwardly resting a yellow baseball bat against her back "Sorry again about that. I've always been a fan of yellow and black pokemon, after my favourite baseball team, the Electabuzz batters. You know them? I've always wanted an Electabuzz of my own" Casey trailed off looking wistfully into the distance

"Don't they always finish last?" Tracey asked as Ash shook his head

Casey snapped her head back glaring at Tracey "No they don't! Where'd you hear that it's only been three seasons!"

Tracey raised his hands surprised "I don't mean anything by it, I don't keep up with baseball"

Casey pointed a finger at Tracey "Oh? and why's that! don't think the sport is good enough?"

"Do you think we should try and help?" Butterfree asked

Ash shook his head "He's got this, besides I don't want to be hit by a baseball bat today"

Tracey backed up hands still raised "I just can't find the time to keep up while I'm travelling"

Casey pointed at Tracey with her bat "I challenge you to a battle! For the honour of the Electabuzz Batters!"

Tracey looked over to Ash hopelessly. Ash shrugged before flipping a page in his book "You can't turn down a challenge. league rules or something"

"didn't you turn down that person in Viridian Forest?" Pikachu asked

"In my defence he swung a sword in my face" Ash replied watching Tracey grab a pokeball of his belt

"What are the rules for the battle?" Tracey asked

"Go Pidgey! Strike em out!" Casey yelled throwing a yellow and black coloured pokeball revealing a Pidgey

Tracey threw his pokeball revealing Scyther "We need to establish rules before we start" Tracey's pleas fell of deaf ears as Casey ordered her Pidgey to use quick attack "Feint" Scyther raised her blades to a defensive position until Pidgey got near where she lunged right before swipping the bird down with her left scythe

Casey recalled Pidgey "Batter up!" She called throwing a second pokeball revealing a the Rattata she had recently caught "Tackle!" The purple rat charged forward at a slow pace before stopping half way through and collapsing to the ground

"Hold on!" Tracey called running across the route to check on the normal type Casey hurriedly running next to him. Tracey checked the pokemon over before feeding it an Oran Berry "He'll be fine" Tracey said standing up as the rat gained it's bearings "just remember to heal a pokemon after catching it"

"Thank you" Casey said tears in her eyes as she recalled Rattata "I'm sorry about that whole.. thing"

Tracey shook his head recalling Scyther "It's okay. And for a rookie you did great"

Casey stood held her hand out to Tracey "Truce?"

Tracey shook her hand "Truce."

Ash tapped Tracey on the shoulder before flipping a page in his book "I think that officially makes you rivals"

Casey grinned "Every good team needs someone to fight" she turned from the group "I'll see you around! I gotta train!"

"but I'm not even a trainer..." Casey had already left "Why do you do these things to me Ash, Why"

"Aww come on Trace! You need some competition!" Mew telepathed gleefully

Tracey sighed "Let's just keep walking. And this time not talk about regions"

The group continued onwards through the Route eventually arriving at Cherrygrove city as the sun was setting

"We've still got a day until they're meant to be here, we should probably book a room" Tracey advised noting the nearby dock

Ash nodded as the group walked into the pokecenter "Can you get the room's booked? I've got a few calls to make"

Tracey nodded before making his way over the front desk "Who're you calling?" Oricorio quizzed as Ash sat down at the phone

"Back to the lab" Ash started dialling the number "Got a few questions about the GS ball"

The video phone was picked up by Ash's clone who hurriedly dropped his book "Oh hi, what's wrong?" he spoke quickly continuously glancing out the window

"Had a few questions about the GS ball, something wrong on your end?"

Ash clone nodded "So Red's here and he decided it was a good idea to fight the clones of his team with his team" a loud crash sounded "It wasn't a good idea. What's the question though?"

Ash held up the GS Ball "First off, any idea what this thing actually does?"

Ash's clone shrugged "From what Oak has told me last time it caused a nearly world and timeline destroying catastrophe, then it disappeared and it's done nothing so far"

Ash hummed looking over the Ball in one hand "Any clue what it's made out of?"

"Once again no clue, none of our tests have come up with anything" An explosion was heard from the other end causing Ash's clone to look out the window "and there goes half the forest" he sighed

Ash pocketed the Ball again "Final question, what do we expect it to do?"

Ash's clone sighed "Oak's got some guesses that it will lead to another world ending event and since you've got experience with these things I offered to let you take it. Personally I think it's going to be a dead lead but who knows"

Ash nodded "Thanks for the answers, you might want to get on that whole Red situation"

Sparks of electricity lit up the room "Yeah, I'm going to do that" he hung up the call

"So let's get this straight" Charizard said as Ash stood up "We know nothing about it except it might destroy the world but we're not sure"

"Pretty much" Ash agreed "Take your bets. Will it or wont it"

The group headed up to their rooms as night fell on the town. The next day we find Tracey and Ash waiting at the harbour as the first boat from Kanto docked

Various people slowly filtered out onto the docks until a spike of orange hair appeared from the crowd alongside a familiar tall breeder

"Misty, Brock! Over here" Tracey yelled waving his hand calling the duo over. The duo emerged from the crowd, Togepi clutched in Misty's hands and Squirtle on her shoulder, Brock carrying various bags

The group reunited happily exchanging stories and splitting the weight of the bags before heading out of town early

Ash flipped a final page in his book as the group made their way into the forests surrounding Cherrygrove "And so our best bet at the moment is to get it to Kurt"

"Makes sense" Misty said ducking under a stray branch "Kurt made the plans for the original GS Ball after all"

Tracey raised an eyebrow "What was the original GS Ball made of anyway? And why did it cause a world ending event"

"It was made from the feathers of Ho-Oh and Lugia" Brock explained "The original idea behind it was a trophy designed to be given to the winner of any given tournament but eventually it was stolen by Pryce and made into a pokeball that could capture Celebi" Brock sighed "Time Travel is not really understood by anyone and so that nearly killed all of us"

Mewtwo sighed "It was complicated to clean that up afterwards. Celebi was up for three days fixing things"

"I thought you were only created by Team Rocket a few months ago" Misty asked suspiciously before walking headlong into a dead tree in the middle road. Misty stumbled back clutching her head with her spare hand "And why didn't anyone tell me about that!"

Brock stepped closer to the tree examining it "This is... unnatural" he turned to Misty "And I don't think any of us saw it either. Which is surprising, look" Brock gestured around the group where every tree was as dead as the first "It looks like the middle of winter"

Tracey stepped closer to one of the trees placing a hand on it examining the bottom of the trunk intently "It looks like a Heracross swarm passed through here" he mentioned releasing Marill "They feed on Tree Sap. Marill can you hear any Heracross around here?" Marill's ears perked up with a twitch, the water type turned towards a more densly packed part of the forest and bounded on ahead "This way!" Tracey yelled hurrying after Marill with the rest of the team in tow

The group ran after Marill until they arrived on the outskirts of a clearing a singular tree in the middle that towered above the rest of the forest a swarm of Heracross surrounding the roots. Misty grimaced "This... this is not a nice sight" she sighed "What are they doing?"

Ash flipped a page in his book eyeing the swarm "They eat sap remember? They're going to probably break the trunk of the tree for it" Ash frowned flipping another page "But that would probably destroy the forest and in turn the ecosystem. We need to do something about it"

"We could try and knock them out?" Brock suggested bringing a hand to his chin "but they would just get back up"

"Catch them?" Clefable suggested "I mean that seems like the only sensible option"

Ivysaur frowned "That would work but this shouldn't be happening. The ecosystem should be self sustainable if not this would've happened years earlier"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Clefable suggested we catch them. Thoughts?"

"Can't allow that, sorry" A voice spoke from behind the group. The group turned to the voice to spot a man with messy black hair and a long beard dressed in the outfit of Rangers of the Kanto and Johto region "Would do the forest more harm than good I afraid"

Tracey raised an eyebrow "Why so?"

the man crouched down next to the group "First I think introductions are in order. I'm Woodruff a ranger assigned to this area" the rest of the group introduced themselves as they had done many times before "Nice to meet you all. Anyway the reason it wouldn't help is because the heracross are a crucial part of this forests ecosystem" Woodruff took a roll of paper out of his bag rolling out on the forest floor to reveal a map "You see the heracross usually break open the trees, reveal the sap, take their fill then leave leaving it for the butterfree which is all good" a horde of butterfree flew past the group at an insane speed "Until recently" Woodruff pointed to a lake on the edge of the map "you see the pinsir in the area usually live across the forest eating off the sap there, but recently" a sound of buzzing filled the area "they've been crossing"

From across the clearing a black shadow appeared over the trees slowly getting closer until it came into clear view. A swarm of pinsir possibly hundreds big. The swarm descended on the tree and the heracross around it the two swarms beginning to fight each other "We need to help them!" Woodruff stood up quickly grabbed a length of rope off his belt

Misty shuddered "Why bugs, can I just... stay over here?"

"Mister Ketchum is already running so I would advise helping" Woodruff pointed out. True to the words of the ranger Ash and his pokemon were already sprinting across the clearing nearly making it to the tree, Charizard already having already flown ahead had began wildly firing flamethrowers

"Focus on the pinsir!" Ash called "Try and keep them away from the wild butterfree! heracross attack!" Ash rallied the wild heracross as he arrived in the midst of the swarm with the rest of his pokemon closly followed by Tracey, Brock, Woodruff and trailing behind Misty

It turned out very few pinsir had to be knocked out before the swarm retreated back the way they came, presumably towards the other side of the lake. Ash examined the area now free off the invading swarm saved for the knocked out ones and

"In the tree" Brock pointed upwards into the leaves where a renegade pinsir was approaching towards a butterfree attempting to feed from the tree that had already been broken open by the heracross. Before the group could react a single heracross dived from seemingly nowhere kicking the pinsir away "And that's all of them" Brock confirmed scanning the area

the heracross flew towards the ground landing in front of Ash, who was closest to the tree, taking a defensive position "what do you want with our swarm?" the bug type questioned "And why does your plant like friend smell so... appetising"

Ash raised his hands quickly "We just wanted to help the forest, you and your swarm seemed to be under attack so we helped. As for Ivysaur I cannot comment

Heracross crossed their arms "And you plan to help how? Fighting the pinsir at the hive would be the only way to help"

Ash dropped his arms "As far as we can tell there's some sort of reason why the pinsir are leaving their side of the forest. my friends and I intend to figure this reason out and get the pinsir back to their side of the forest that is all"

Heracross brought one hand to it's exoskeleton plated chin "To make sure you're not intending to harm our swarm I will follow you" it said decisively "In exchange for your passage you must let me know the secrets of the grass type's enticing sap smell"

Ash shrugged "Sure. Good luck with that Ivysaur" Ash called the rest of his friends over with a wave of his hand as Heracross and Ivysaur debated the sap in the grass type's flower. Ash flipped a page in his book when the group arrived "So where's the best area to be looking to figure out the pinsir problem?"

"The other side of the lake" Woodruff said decisively "I have searched this side of the lake in its entirety so the issue is something on the other side logically"

Misty sighed "And it's going to be crawling with bug types?" Woodruff confirmed this "Glorious. Truly"

"So it's Team Rocket right?" Blastoise said decisively "it's always them"

Ash shrugged "I mean not always like that one time it was..." Ash trailed off "A different division of Team Rocket?"

"As I said. Always Team Rocket" Blastoise pointed out

Woodruff laid his map back down on the ground pointing to the lake "We're only ten minutes away from the hive of the pinsir and it's smaller than this part of the forest"

Tracey looked at the sky "We should head out now then before the sun starts setting"

"We could split up" Brock pointed out "And cover ground more quickly"

Woodruff shook his head "In case it is the fault of one of the gangs in the region it would be wiser to stick together and as Mister Sketchit said we should head out now before the sun sets and the pinsir become more hostile"

The group agreed and headed out towards the other side of the lake. Quickly reaching the body of water and crossing it through various methods they walked into a deeper part of the forest with branches that stretched up to the sun. The sun wouldn't have been visible if leaves had been left on the tree but alas none remained apart from one tree clearly visible due to its high leaves

when the group arrived their was a robot pinsir on it a tube connecting to the tree sucking the yellow sap out of it "That's Team Rocket" Misty sighed

Woodruff raised an eyebrow "The disbanded gang?"

Misty nodded "Always is with the robots. Always."

predictably the trio emerged from the robot and began reciting their motto "So that's the group that's been angering the pinsir?" Heracross asked.

Ash nodded

Heracross suplexed the robot

Team Rocket was blasting off soon after along with the exploded robot "Well that was simpler that I thought it would be" Woodruff said confused "That should allow the pinsir back into this side of the forest and keep the heracross and butterfree on their side"

After that astoundingly easy adventure the group said their various goodbyes and continued on the road until Ash noticed that they were still being followed by the Heracross from earlier

"You don't need to follow us anymore you know?" Ash asked stopping to talk to the bug type "We're leaving the forest"

Heracross shook his head "No I follow for a different reason. I wish to join your team, you showed strong prowess during the fight for the tree and I wish to understand the secrets of your grass friends sap"

Ash shrugged bringing out an empty pokeball "Sure? I mean we travel a lot pretty much always moving"

Heracross nodded "I understand and wish to join anyway"

Ash nodded tapping the pokeball to Heracross head which captured soon after, the bug type was promptly sent out to join the travelling group "Welcome to the party"

The group continued on towards Violet City, encountering a injured Stantler which Brock healed, a Hoothoot with poor navigation and many many training sessions between Ash's party until we now find them on the mysteriously snowy high peaks around Violet City "I don't understand this regions ecosystem" Butterfree commented folding his wings over his face to protect himself from the cold "Weren't we in a humid forest yesterday?"

Ash pulled a borrowed coat over himself further "And before that we were on the beach yes" the disguised Dark type grinned "We could ski down this mountain if you want to speed things up, I mean it would take some improvising but.."

"No" Oricorio stated "I like living thank you very much"

"You're part ghost type" Mew pointed out "And skiing sounds fun!"

Oricorio waved a wing "The ghost type thing is semantics and you know it"

Ash whistled loudly calling his group to attention and waving a hand to let the ones who couldn't hear him know to stop. In front of the group stood a Chikorita in the middle of a straight that would lead towards Violet City "So uh, can we pass?" Ash yelled to the grass type standing firmly in the middle

"No" it yelled back

"You drive a hard bargain!" Ash turned to his friends opening his book "She says we can't pass"

Misty raised an eyebrow "Why?"

Ash shrugged before turning back to the Grass Type "Why can't we pass?"

The grass type stood firm "I am looking for a worthy trainer and I won't let you pass unless you are one"

"Which basically means we have to beat you in a fair fight right?" Heracross asked "One on one?"

Chikorita nodded "One on one. And I will join who can beat me"

Ash flipped a page in his book turning back to his friends "She says we have to beat her in a one on one fight to pass. And she'll join whoever beats her"

Brock gestured to Ash "You're the strongest battler among us"

Ash shrugged dropping his book and bag in the snow "Let me" Heracross said stepping forward

Ash smiled "Actually I have another idea, she said one on one after all" Ash took off his coat and dropped his hat "So I'll take this fight"

Pikachu frowned "are you sure about this? I mean no offence but you don't fight yourself much"

The various pokemon riding on Ash fell to the ground as Ash dropped his illusion "I intent to correct that fact"

Ash walked towards the straight the other pokemon staying back. Chikorita looked confused "Where is your trainer?"

Ash grinned "Right here, you can take the first shot"

Chikorita looked confused for a second before taking a fighting stance firing a vine whip towards the dark type. The vines barely missed Ash who rolled forward past them firing a Dark Pulse at the grass type who jumped backwards over it before being hit in mid air by a Shadow Ball. Ash ran forward towards Chikorita, front leg glowing blue with a charged Aerial Ace, before being hit by glowing leaves from a Magical Leaf stopping the dark type in his tracks

Chikorita followed up by letting the leaf on her head glow yellow for a second a thin yellow barrier appearing around her before fading, a reflect that would stay throughout the whole battle, before Ash could fully recover she let multiple Vine Whips fly towards the Dark Type at an intense speed.

The vines passed straight through Ash

A second later Chikorita was hit from behind with an Aerial Ace the illusion around Ash dropping making him visable while the one that took the vines dissipated into nothingness. Chikorita was still standing thanks to the Reflect but badly hurt. Ash's eyes glowed blue as he raised his front two arms in front of him them glowing crimson along with his body before bringing them down, the crimson dissipated as a red and black wave was sent out from around Ash hitting Chikorita sending her backwards into a pile of snow

"I give up!" She called after landing "you win, I will join you" she sighed

Ash ran over to the side of the grass type "Are you okay? We have a doctor with us if you're not"

Chikorita stood up shakily brushing off snow with her vines "I will be fine, thank you. You fight well despite the illusion you keep"

Ash grinned "was that pun intentional?"

Chikorita smiled "Maybe."

Ash turned to his team reassuming his human illusion "Can someone throw me my bag? It has my pokeballs in it after all"

Pikachu ran over to Ash carrying the bag in his mouth, he dropped it and climbed back onto Ash's shoulder "Good job with the battle"

Ash dug around in the bag taking out an empty pokeball "Thanks, it was hard" Ash turned back to Chikorita with the pokeball in hand "Are you sure you want to join me? you don't have too if you don't want to"

Chikorita grinned "As if I would turn down joining after that fight, and if what your friends say is true and you are weaker than them then I can train with them"

Ash nodded tapping the pokeball to Chikorita's head the capture was quick as all of Ash's and soon after Chikorita was travelling with the group on the road to Violet City

Two days later we find our heroes on the outskirts of the city the famous Bellsprout Tower visable along with the rest of the city

Ash tapped Misty on the back as the group made their way down a cliff into the town "Yeah?" she asked turning to Ash

Ash flipped a page in his book "So are those 'gilded badges' that Blue gave me one of a thing in all regions?"

Misty nodded "Of course"

Ash flipped another page "And they each double the owners pokemon carry limit, not just add six?"

Misty raised an eyebrow suspiciously "Yes?"

Ash grinned flipping another page "And you can challenge for them at any time right? not just when you have seven badges from the respective region?"

"Ash you're not seriously thinking about fighting every gym leaders full team right?" Misty sighed

Ash flipped a page "Damn right I'm thinking of doing that!"

The group made their way to the gym, a skyscraper only identified as a gym by the logo by the door. Being directed by the greeter to the roof for a fight Ash and his friends took a nearby elevator to the roof where you could see for miles around even the mountains of Mt Silver seemed small from the hights. Standing on the otherside of a battlefield on the roof was a young man with dark blue hair and a light blue coat two statues with the gym logo behind him and six pokeballs on his belt

"So you are my next challenger?" The man asked. Ash nodded "I am Falkner leader of this gym, your name?"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Ash Ketchum. I intended to fight your most powerful team"

Falkner raised an eyebrow "Are you sure? My most powerful team is usually reserved for those who have conquered seven other gyms in this region"

Ash nodded flipping another page in his book "I understand. I wish for a true fight against each gym leader of this region"

Falkner shrugged "Alright. Rules are as followed, we each have to use six pokemon, none less, none more and at the end of each round we must both recall out pokemon however if by the time one of us is on our final pokemon the other person can use all their team. There are no ring outs unless a pokemon that cannot fight falls off the building in which case they're disqualified and a member of our security team will catch them. If a pokemon can fly not even the sky is the limit on battle space understand? You send out a pokemon first"

Ash nodded handing his book to Brock "Charizard you need to start us off"

Charizard grinned "Gladly" the non dragon dragon took his place on one side of the battlefield while Falkner threw his pokeball

"Pidgeot begin this fight for us!" Predictably a Pidgeot emerged from the pokeball calling to the skies as it appeared with a flourish "Double Team into a Feather Dance" Pidgeot vibrated quickly copies of it appearing in the sky and on the battlefield each of their sets of wings glowing a bright blue no difference between them

"Don't let it get that power over you Heat Wave" Charizard reared it's head back before spinning releasing waves of hot fire at each clone eventually hitting the real Pidgeot as it finished the Feather Dance the rest of the clones disappearing instantly

"Up!" Pidgeot recovered quickly shooting up into the sky as Charizard grimaced the effects of the feather dance taking place "Hurricane" Pidgeot began flapping its wings first slow then building speed

"After it and bring it down!" Charizard shot into the sky quicker than Pidgeot could flap it's wings, grabbing the bird by the tail-feathers the fire type flipped diving straight down dragging Pidgeot with it, as it approached the roof Charizard dropped Pidgeot and flapped it's wings stopping itself.

Pidgeot wasn't as quick

The bird slammed into the ground with a cloud of dust and when it settled Pidgeot was knocked out "You win this round" Falkner called recalling his pokemon "recall your Charizard and prepare for the next round"

Ash called Charizard back down and he stepped out of the battlefield "Too easy." he commented standing behind Ash

"Who next?" Ash asked "He's probably going to be more prepared this round"

Pikachu shot onto the battlefield with a spark of electricity "Then let him be prepared"

Falkner threw his pokeball revealing a Crobat "Begin! Confuse Ray" Crobat's eyes began glowing gold as the poison type stared intently at Pikachu

"Close your eyes. We'll do this battle off sound entirely" Ash called, the electric type followed instructions shutting his eyes tight "Run forward veering left"

"Toxic!" Falkner called as the electric mouse started running

"Feint right high priority!" Pikachu hard stepped left then rolled right at the last second "Wild Charge!" right and forward Pikachu charged forward electricity sparking around him speed building at an insane speed the mouse seemingly teleporting and before Falkner could react Crobat had been hit dead on sending it falling to the arena floor knocked out "I think that was slight overkill" Ash said surprised "You can uh open you eyes now"

Pikachu opened his eyes looking at the scene "Well that was shocking" he quipped walking back towards Ash

"You win this round too, I'm impressed." Falkner said recalling Crobat "Your next pokemon"

Heracross stepped forward "I can do this" he said dead set on the battle "in exchange for some sap I can take this fight easily"

Ash looked at Ivysaur "Is that a fair trade for you?"

Ivysaur sighed "If it helps us win"

Heracross grinned "Then I shall win"

Falkner threw his pokeball revealing a Aerodactyl "Ice Fang from above" Aerodactyl flew upwards before dive bombing down mouth open jaws glowing light blue

"Just as we practised. Sucker Punch" Heracross stood still. When Aerodactyl got close Heracross dodged the jaws to the left before punching the prehistoric pokemon in the gut sending it sprawling to the floor "Take Down!" Heracross charged forward glowing white hitting the downed rock type as it was recovering sending it off the building "After it! Brick Brake" Heracross jumped off the building after it wings buzzing catching Aerodactyl in mid-air with a glowing forearm before grabbing it and throwing it back up onto the arena knocked out flying onto the arena after it

"well I'll be damned" Falkner said recalling Aerodactyl "that was... impressive" Falkner shook his head "next round"

Heracross walked purposefully back to Ash "As I said. I will win"

Chikorita ran forward before Ash could even say anything "I can do it. Don't worry" she commented taking a battle position

Falkner raised an eyebrow "A grass type against a flying type is not a wise move" he advised only to receive a shake of the head from Ash "if you insist. Honchkrow!" A Honchkrow appeared on the battlefield with a flourish

Ash grinned "Dark Type eh? Remember what we practised" Chikorita nodded as Honchkrow's beak glowed purpled before tapping the ground sending a fast Dark Pulse across the arena, Chikorita perfectly hopped over it instinctively dodging a thrown Shadow Ball "Light Screen" Chikorita landed eyes and leaf glowing purple as a purple shield appeared around it slowly fading to only be seen as a purple sparkle despite Chikorita's eyes and leaf not glowing "Vine whip and Magical Leaf" Chikorita sent out a single vine that was dodged by Honchkrow. The bird's move didn't come however as it was stopped by a magical leaf in mid air leaving it open to have the vine wrapped around it's talon before being dragged into the battlefield head first

needless to say Honchkrow wasn't awake after that. Falkner recalled it as Chikorita smugly walked back to Ash's side "Well I must take back my previous statement. Type differences don't seem to bother you much do they?"

Ash shrugged smiling "Who next?"

Oricorio hopped off Ash's head "I mean if we're doing debut battles" he said offhandedly "I have a strategy in mind"

Falkner threw his next pokeball "Xatu!" a psychic bird appeared on the other side of the battlefield an apt difference to the bird of ghostly origin on Ash's side "Air Slash" The psychic bird without even blinking threw it's wings open in an instant sending blue waves of energy at Oricorio

"Mirror move combined with Revelation Dance" Oricorio waited for a second before spreading his wings and slowly and elegantly dancing dodging all the blue waves before firing back with his own that were tinted a light purple "Double slap!" the waves combined with Xatu sending it backwards with despite battle damage being visable on the psychic no response. Oricorio's wings glowed a bright white upon nearing the psychic he brought them down hard hitting four times with each. Xatu was knocked out by the end of it

Falkner shook his head "I'm never going to live this down" he sighed "We're onto the final round, you have six pokemon at your disposal and I have one. Good luck" he recalled Xatu as Oricorio returned to his perch

"So?" Ash asked the group "Who wants to go last?"

Blastoise walked forward "Take a guess"

Falkner threw his final pokeball revealing a Swello.

Blastoise responded with two Hyrdro Canons.

Swello was knocked out

"Beginning to think we should be using less force" Ash sighed "I mean that wasn't fair and you know it"

Blastoise shrugged "Sure was satisfying, reminds me of this one time in my gang"

"which doesn't exist anymore" Ivysaur pointed out

"Yeah but this one time" Blastoise continued with his story as Ash crossed the battlefield after taking his book to meet Falkner in the middle

"Well I never" Falkner shook his head "You a league champion or something?"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Well I won the last Indigo Conference"

Falkner snapped his fingers "Knew I recognised you from somewhere! I've got to tell the others to prepare for you" he laughed unclipping a badge in the shape of two wings upside down gold lining its edge "But you beat me fair and... well it was one sided but here you go! The gilded Zephyr badge"

Ash took the badge admiring in the sun before putting it in his badge case "Can you by chance direct me to the nearest gym?" Ash asked with a flip of his book

Falkner pointed behind him off the building "Azalea Town. You can see it from here, trust me though. When you get their it wont be as easy as it was here"

Ash nodded flipping another page "I hope so"

So the group reconvened. Ivysaur giving up some sap for Heracross and continued on the road towards Azalea town now with two objectives in mind!

What will become of the GS Ball? What sorts of new pokemon and people will Ash and his friends meet along the way? Will Brock ever get a successful love life? Find out next time AS THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

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Authors Corner: I know the delay between the last chapter and this one was not good and I apologize profusely but this was the first chapter where I didn't have a single idea of what I was going to do. But from here to late Kalos I have a basic outline written down which should help productivity!


	18. Chapter 18

Authors Corner: Not much to say on this chapter, there's not many plot crucial episodes however next chapter is going to be an odd one since M03 takes place during it but there's plot important moments before the movie takes place so it will probably have a bit of story progression before we actually get into the movie

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We find our heroes on the road to Azalea Town outside a large gate blocking the entrance to a valley that would lead them to Azalea town quicker "So does anyone have any idea what this gate is?" Misty asked "It's just meant to be a valley right?"

Brock unfolded a map from his bag "Says so, the valley's meant to be called the 'Charicific Valley'. Notable for it's population of Charizard"

Ash raised an eyebrow flipping a page in his book "And this gate isn't mentioned at all?"

Brock shook his head "Nothing on it, just meant to be a valley that allows quick passage between Violet and Azalea"

Tracey shrugged "We could fly over? Or just try forcing the gate open"

"Flying seems most sensible" Mewtwo pointed out "forcing the gate could anger the residents of the Valley"

Misty unclipped a pokeball from her belt "I guess flying it is then" she threw the pokeball revealing Articuno. The rest of the group released their various flying pokemon, Ash calling Lugia and Ho-Oh to call the flightless pokemon

Ash climbed on Charizard "Just over the valley" he said the fire type as they ascended "Walking is half the fun after all"

Charizard rolled his eyes "Yeah yeah I get it" the dragon took off in a burst of hot air flying ahead of the various other pokemon

"Hold it!" A voice yelled suddenly as a orange streak passed inches in front of Charizard causing the dragon to stall. The streak stopped just above the group revealing itself to be a young woman with long green hair riding on a Charizard of her own a bow on the fire types head "What do you think you're doing?"

Ash quickly picked his book out of his bag flipping a page "We're just trying to fly over the valley to get to Azalea Town"

The woman raised an eyebrow "Really? Don't you know this is private property"

"We didn't!" Misty yelled "The map says that it's just an open valley that doubles as a shortcut" Misty pointed to Brock "He even has the map!" Brock didn't respond as he continued staring at the woman "Right Brock?" Misty elbowed Brock in the side with the help of Articuno

"Uh yeah" Brock fumbled the map out of one of his coat pockets "It says it's an open valley"

The woman rolled her eyes "Well it's not" she turned to Ash "But I could let you pass on one condition" Ash rolled his free hands gesturing for the woman to continue "If you can beat me in a one on one battle, your Charizard versus mine, Charla, if you win you pass. If you lose you find another way"

Ash nodded putting his book back in his bag "Back up some" he whispered to Charizard "Wait for her to call a first attack" Charizard nodded subtlety as he flew back the rest of the pokemon spreading out in a circle around the two Charizard's and their trainers

"Begin!" The woman called "Slash" Charla's claws grew white and much longer before she charged forward

"Wait for them to get close then Dragon Claw" Charizard stared down the approaching dragon as she neared closing the gap in an instant but in the final moment Charizard raised a left arm that was bathed in green light swatting the white light away "Shadow Claw other arm, be prepared to hit with the other arm if she blocks" Charizard raised his other arm bathed in a purple glow swatting Charla back along with her rider

"Dragon Rage!" Charla's mouth glowed white before a burning white dragon was released from it flying at Charizard from seemingly all directions making it undodgeable

"Flare Blitz through it!" Ash yelled leaning down to Charizard's neck

Charizard looked by to Ash as the bright wall approached "Are you sure? That could really injure you"

"Now!" Ash yelled. Charizard without another thought bathed himself with blue and orange fire barrelling forward at speeds unmatched by most of the pokemon in the area going straight through the white wall of flame the white energy adding to the blaze of colour from the fire no speed dropping Charizard hit Charla dead on sending her and her trainer hurtling towards the ground "Catch them" Ash coughed through the smoke and flame. Charizard dropped all momentum that the move had given him the fire dissipating as he dive-bombed hurtling faster than the falling duo. Charizard catching Charla and her rider before landing in the middle of the valley

Charla fell over after being put on the ground leaving her rider standing next to her "That was incredible!" she yelled as Ash slipped off Charizard's back brushing soot off himself "Dangerous as all the distortion world, but incredible! How did you become that powerful"

Ash pulled his book out of his bag "Lots of training and risking your life at every opportunity. Can we please have passage over the valley now?"

The woman nodded frantically "Of course! But please come back some day, I need to learn that" Ash nodded and climbed back on Charizard taking back off eventually landing on the other side of the valley and continuing on the road to Azalea

Ash stopped in his path a sudden hit of realisation "So... we never got her name" he pointed out "After that whole battle we never got her name"

Clefable shook her head "And the award for 'forgetting the most obvious thing' goes to you Ash. Always to you"

A day later we find our group travelling through a forest on the outskirts of Azalea Town peacefully admiring the sights

Until a boy with purple hair crashed through the trees in front of our group stopping them in their tracks "You! Any of you seen a Cyndaquill around here"

"No? Why have you lost yours?" Tracey questioned

The boy considered this question for a second "Something like that. More left it for being weak and I need it back but close enough. If any of you see one don't you dare catch it!" With that the boy raced off into the trees

a second past as each member of the group considered the sentence

Ash slowly flipped a page in his book "We're finding that Cyndaquill before he does"

Charizard growled "Damn right we are"

The group set off around the forest covering ground at a pace hopefully quicker than the purple haired boy could until they came to a harsh cliff a single cave could be seen on the side of it roughly twenty feet off the ground with a small overhang on the outside and barely visible over the overhang was the back of a Cyndaquill

Brock stepped back to get a better look of the cave "That overhang wont be able to take much more. Only one person can go up"

"Ash's half way up the cliff" Tracey pointed out watching the scaling trainer along with his team that had been left on the ground. A few minutes later and Ash was pulling himself onto the overhang dropping his illusion as he landed on the overhang

"Um, hello?" a timid voice spoke from the left of the dark type. Ash turned to see the Cyndaquill there standing near the entrance of the cave "You aren't here to take me back to Koji are you?"

Ash tilted his head "Is he your old trainer?" Cyndaquill nodded staying near the cave entrance "No then no. We met him earlier and he seemed pretty awful"

"We?" the fire type asked stepping closer to Ash

Ash glanced back briefly to his friends at the bottom of the cliff "Yeah me and my friends. We met him and since he said he was looking for you and he seemed really bad we came to look for you. To make sure you were okay"

Cyndaquill took another step forwards "So you're not taking me back to him?"

Ash shook his head "'Course not! We can take you to a nearby pokecenter if you want so we can get you some help"

The fire type looked over the cliff to where Ash's friends were "Your friends some of them are human, and you looked like one for a second as well when I first saw you. Are you a trainer?"

Ash nodded "Yeah the pokemon down there are mostly with me. I know it's kind of unconventional to be both a pokemon and a trainer but you know"

Cyndaquill turned to Ash "Can I join you? I want to get strong and you seem strong" the fire type spoke slowly

Ash smiled softly "Of course if you want to, the main thing is just getting you away from your old trainer"

Cyndaquill smiled "I would love to"

Ash nodded putting his human illusion back on before before picking Cyndaquill up with one arm "Now be careful" Ash said as he began to descend down the cliff one handed "Don't fall down it's quite a way" A few minutes passed as Ash clambered down the cliffside Cyndaquill in his arm before the two made it back to solid ground. Ash let Cyndaquill back onto ground as he fished a pokeball out of his bag "now are you sure you want to join me?" he asked bending down to look at Cyndaquill

"I.. I'm sure" Cyndaquill said smiling "I want to be strong and with a nice trainer and you're very nice"

Ash grinned "Then welcome to the team" Ash tapped the pokeball to Cyndaquill's head and after a moment of shaking it dinged with a successful capture. Ash let Cyndaquill out of his pokeball a moment later before standing up flipping a page in his book "Well I guess we should continue then?" he asked to his team

"Hold it right there!" A voice the group had heard before yelled as Koji stormed through the trees "you stole my Cyndaquill!" he yelled pointing accusingly at Ash and the newly caught fire type.

Cyndaquill hid behind Ash's leg as Ash flipped a page in his book "There's no law saying that after a pokemon is released it can't be re-caught by another person. And from the sounds of it you weren't a good trainer anyway"

Koji stamped his foot against the ground "Not a good trainer? You aren't a good trainer! You've stolen my pokemon!"

Ash shook his head flipping another page "Once again I haven't stolen anything. You released Cyndaquill here so he's no longer your pokemon. He then chose to come with me"

Koji stepped closer to Ash being mere inches away from him "Are you arguing with me? Do you know who I am? I'm Koji I'm the strongest in my home town and I'll kick you back to whatever back water town you come from"

Ash flipped another page in his book "That still doesn't make Cyndaquill your pokemon. However if you want a battle I accept"

Koji stepped back grabbing a pokeball off a belt "Then when I beat you I'll be taking Cyndaquill" he said smugly throwing his pokeball to reveal a Sandslash

"Clefable" Ash said calmly with a nod to the fairy type "You can take this fight" Clefable nodded determinedly taking position next to Ash

Brock stepped between the two raising two hands "If you're making this battle official this will be one a side okay?" Koji agreed smugly and Ash nodded "Then the fight will be between Koji and Ash Ketchum in a one on one fight" Brock stepped back "Begin!"

"Ice Beam" Clefable put a hand in front of herself a ball of light blue cold appearing in it for a second before it condensed into a beam that collided with Koji's Sandslash before it could move. Sandslash was very much knocked out

Brock stepped forward again raising a hand to Ash "The winner of this battle is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town" he called

Koji stamped the ground angrily "You cheat!" he yelled recalling Sandslash "We'll meet again some day and I'll beat you all the way back to Kanto" Koji ran off into the forest angrily disappearing from sight soon leaving the group

Ash took a deep breath before flipping another page in his book "I guess we should continue to Azalea then?" he asked receiving confirmation from the group

As sun was setting on the Johto Region we find our heroes making their way into Azalea Town. The small town nearly silent save for some travelling noise from conversations and sounds of pokemon in the forests around it. Brock nodded in the direction of a house bigger than the others in the back of the town the windows lit up with shadows moving behind them "That's Kurt's house, he's usually out so we should drop off the GS Ball soon"

The group made their way into the house knocking on the door before a call of "come in" was yelled back to them. The group entered the house to see two people in it. One an old man with grey hair down to his neck and a blue overcoat on adorned with the tops of various pokeballs. The other a teenager with long red hair down to his shoulders a long black coat lined with red on it's sleeves and up to the neck. The both of them were sitting around a table

"So you still haven't heard anything about him?" the teen asked barely acknowledging the group entering the room with a look

the old man shook his head "Sorry Silver but no one around here has heard anything. If I do I'll tell you trust me"

The teen nodded "I'll leave you to your visitors. Thank you" he stood up walking past the group nodding to Brock and Misty

The old man looked at the group "Ah! Brock, Misty please come in and bring your friends" The group came properly into the building sitting down around the table "So to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked smiling warmly

"A delivery from Professor Oak" Misty said

The old man hummed "Please before we get to business introduce me to your new friends"

Ash flipped a page in his book "I'm Ash Ketchum, travelling trainer"

Tracey offered a hand to the old man who shook it "Tracey Sketchit, pokemon watcher and field researcher"

The man smiled warmly "I'm Kurt, creator of the pokeball. Pleasure to meet you all. Now what's this delivery about?"

Ash took the GS Ball out of his pocket, Kurt's eyes lighting up as he saw it. Ash flipped a page in his book with his free hand "The Professor hasn't been able to open this and asked us to deliver it to you"

Kurt took the GS Ball examining it closely "Never thought I'd see this again" his voice was barely above a whisper "Give me a day" he said looking to Ash "If I can't figure it out by then take it to the shrine in Ilex Forest"

"Why there?" Tracey asked confused

Kurt looked closely at the ball "It's the point closest to here with a connection to Celebi; if this GS Ball is anything like the old one it will be connected to Celebi" Kurt pocketed the ball "Now if you don't mind I would like to get to work"

The group left the house as Kurt set to work on the Ball sounds of hammers coming from inside the house. The group made their way to the pokecenter booking a room "Who was that at Kurt's house?" Tracey asked as the group sat down in the lobby

"Silver Sakaki" Brock said with a heavy sigh "He's one of the people involved in the original GS Ball incident. He's been looking for his father recently but no luck"

Ash flipped a page in his book intrigued "Who's his father?"

"The old boss of Team Rocket" Misty added "Used to run Viridian Gym but no one's seen him in over three years"

"That seems... untrustworthy" Mewtwo pointed out "Family isn't a judge of character but is it really okay to be looking for the boss of Team Rocket"

"Ex boss" Misty pointed out "He quit quite a few years ago, as far as we can tell Team Rocket is only a few independent groups now"

Mewtwo considered this "However the Team Rocket we know have referenced a boss a few times yes? Do we know who that is"

Brock shook his head "None at all. Last I heard Surge was looking into it"

With this knowledge in mind the group turned in for the night the promise of the GS Ball and Ash's upcoming Gym Battle in sight

The next morning we find our heroes in front of the gym of Azalea Town, Ash prepared to face his second gym battle of the region. The group made their way into the gym the interior housing the appearance of a vast forest a mixture of real and painted trees surrounding the area and in the middle stood a boy with purple hair and a green top and shorts on a bug net swung over his shoulder "Greetings!" The group made their way to be closer to the boy "I'm Bugsy the Bug Type Leader of Johto. I assume you are here to challenge me?" Ash nodded "Great! Can I get your name by change, I'm waiting for a specific trainer so I need everyone's names"

Ash flipped a page in his book "Ash Ketchum at your service"

Bugsy's eyes lit up "Perfect! Falkner told me to wait for you. I've prepared a special battle for you" Bugsy stopped "Honestly battle might be the wrong word. Follow me"

The group exchanged looks as Bugsy led the group out of the gym and through the town before stopping at the edge of the forest "Now you see" Bugsy gestured to the forest "Falkner told me that you destroyed him so I've decided to level the playing field" Bugsy paused for dramatic effect "We won't be having a battle instead I'll be heading to the other side of the forest and you have to stay hidden for an hour in a place that I know"

Ash flipped another page in his book "Seems fun. What are the rules?"

Bugsy grinned "Glad you think so I didn't sleep a few days ago thinking this up! The rules are you can only take one pokemon with you into the forest and I can only use one of mine to help me find you, you can't fly, use any pokemon's ability to make yourself impossible to find or leave the forest at all. Other than that all's fair game" Bugsy took a pocket watch out of a pocket in his shirt passing it to Ash "Once I send up a signal from the other side start that timer and head into the forest. Don't get found in an hour and you'll get this" Bugsy took a badge in the shape of a ladybug's back with a thin line of gold around the outside "See you soon!" he called running into the forest

Ash flipped a page in his book turning to his friends "Is it allowed to give a challenger any challenge other than a battle for a badge?"

Misty shrugged "Nothing in the rule book says it doesn't"

"I once gave someone a badge for winning a fossil finding contest" Brock added "So I guess it is"

Ash shrugged throwing his book in his bag before turning to his team "So who's coming with me?"

Cyndaquill stepped forward out of the crowd of pokemon "If I may I would like to see what one of these Gym Fights would be like, even if it's not a fight"

Ash grinned bending down letting Cyndaquill climb onto his shoulder "All right now we wait for the signal" Ash glanced down at the timer looking up in time to see a purple psybeam being shot into the sky "That's it I guess" Ash started the timer nodding to his friends before running into the forest Cyndaquill on his shoulder "We should probably look for a hiding spot. Any ideas?" Ash asked to the fire type on his shoulder

Cyndaquill looked at the forest around the two of them "He's also not allowed to fly correct?" Cyndaquill asked preemptively

Ash nodded "He said we couldn't so I assume he can't too"

"Then wouldn't a tree be a good option? Since he would have to climb each one even if he knew we were in one" Cyndaquill pointed out "but if we can't I understand"

Ash shook his head grinning "No that would work amazingly. It would be perfect if we could find a tall tree first though so let's stay on the ground to start okay?"

The group made their way through the forest slowly hiding behind trees whenever possible. Catching fleeting sights of many different pokemon as they examined various trees looking for a tall one "Above us" Cyndaquill said quietly as they passed under the shadow of a tall tree. Above the two stood Bugsy keeping close to trees examining the area around him a large Ariados standing next to him. Bugsy sighed before walking along seeming thin air to the next tree and slowly out of sight "How did he walk like that?" Cyndaquill asked confused "Is that a thing all Gym Leaders can do?"

Ash shook his head narrowing his eyes at the sky where Bugsy had seemingly walked off "Look closely" he pointed to the sky where extremely thin string wrapped taught around two trees. These strings stretched off for seeming miles covering every part of the tree tops "He left traps for us, if we tried to climb up into the trees we'd be caught"

Cyndaquill sighed "Sorry my idea wasn't helpful"

Ash put a hand on the small fire type "Don't worry it was a great idea it's just bad he thought of it before us. Let's keep searching the forest for another hiding spot" Ash glanced at the stopwatch "We've got only half an hour left to go"

Eventually the group found themselves a small cave near the foot of a mountain. The duo sat in the back-most corner of the cave staring at the cave entrance whilst buried in the darkness at the back only lit up by the fire on Cyndaquill's back "I don't mean to sound rude" Ash said looking to Cyndaquill "but is there any way to calm the fire on your back?"

Cyndaquill frowned for a second "I think, I've never tried to calm it before" Cyndaquill tensed for a second before the fire on his back died down to barely above an ember "is that better?" Cyndaquill asked timidly

Ash grinned turning to the fire type "That's perfect! Thank you Cyndaquill" the duo waited out in the cave for some time no sounds to be heard other than the occasional call of various pokemon. We find them as the timer was nearing its end

"This is the last place in the forest" A voice spoke from outside "If they're not in here they've doubled back on is" Bugsy came into view at the opening of the cave with his Ariados. The two stepped closer into the cave Bugsy scanning the cave seeming to miss Ash. Closer still, Ash and Cyndaquill pushed further back into the cave as Bugsy came ever closer

Until three short beeps interrupted Bugsy's movement. The timer had gone off "Argh!" Bugsy yelled as Ash stood up and Cyndaquill's flames came back a few seconds later "Ten more seconds" Bugsy sighed

Ash grinned bringing his book out of his bag "That was extremely tense for me to be fair. Good job"

Bugsy nodded "Let's head back to your friends, sure they're missing you" The group made their way back to the entrance of the forest where Ash's pokemon, Misty, Brock and Tracey were sitting on benches waiting

"So?" Pikachu asked hopping back on Ash's shoulder as Cyndaquill returned to the ground "I assume somehow you managed to survive without me?"

Ash grinned "It wasn't just me. Cyndaquill was an amazing helper"

Pikachu turned to the fire type who was standing at the back of the pokemon on the ground "Thanks for making sure Ash didn't die, Cyndaquill" Cyndaquill smiled nodding

"So how'd it go?" Tracey asked

Ash flipped a page in his book "Very, very close. Way to tense honestly"

Bugsy laughed "You can say that again" he unclipped the golden badge off his shirt and held it towards Ash "Good job Ash, you win the gilded Hive Badge"

Ash took the badge putting it in his badge case before flipping another page "So can you advise me on where to go next?"

"Goldenrod" Misty said "It's closest and it has a gym"

Bugsy shrugged "She's right, I'll let Whiteney know you're on the way. If you need me I'll be in the forest" Bugsy nodded to each of the people in the area before walking into the forest

"So, we should go see Kurt now right?" Brock pointed out to various sounds of agreement

* * *

Authors Corner: Fast chapter intensifies. So this one's shorter than the last since there's literally 2 plot important episodes before the Gym 'Battle' and I really didn't want Charizard to leave the party so it was more one and a battle. Next chapter will be longer since it's a movie and it will have quite a few plot important episodes before the actual movie starts. And we're 2 badges into Johto which means my favourite movie is coming up. AND FINALLY THIS MAKES 100K WORDS IN THIS STORY SO THAT'S COOL


	19. Chapter 19

Zorua Master: Honestly the movie we're covering is my least favourite of the Kanto/Johto saga. It seemed fairly all over the place and seemed to only exist to show of Entei. However I intend to correct this for better or worse. However there's still some more episodes to do before the main event of the chapter!

* * *

Brock knocked on the door to the workshop of the creator of the pokeball. The door swung open revealing Kurt with heavy bags under his eyes "Ah. You're here, please come in" Kurt stepped aside letting the group come into the workshop gesturing to them to sit down "I've made some interesting discoveries about the GS Ball" Kurt took the ball of a worktable to his side "The main one being it's not made of what the original GS Ball was made of, feathers of Lugia and Ho-Oh." Kurt placed it on the table "However from what I can tell it's some sort of material related to the forests of Arborville and Azalea Town. Two locations that are sacred to Celebi. Also the energy that was originally used to make the pokeball able to capture Celebi has been magnified ten fold"

Ash examined the GS Ball closer looking at every inch of intently before setting it down and picking up his book "There's a crack now"

"What?" Kurt picked the GS Ball turning it over "well I never" he muttered looking at the bottom of the ball where a crack less than an two inches long stretched across the base of it "The material was indestructible before wasn't it?"

Tracey brought a hand to his chin "Professor Oak said they tried everything and not even a scratch was on it"

Kurt put the GS Ball down "I'm sorry, I can't explain it"

Ash shrugged pocketing it before flipping another page "Well the best thing we can do now is take it to that shrine right?"

Kurt nodded "Indeed. If the extra energy is anything to go by then it would be the best option. Good luck" Kurt stopped for a second opening a draw in a desk next to him "I actually made something for all of you" Kurt took four sets of four pokeballs out of the draw and placed them on the table "These" Kurt held up one of the pokeballs, a green pokeball with red spots addorning the top "Are friendballs, if you want to make friends with a pokemon quicker catch them with this" Kurt put down the friendball picking up a pokeball with a blue top and large red stripe "This is a Lureball, any water type pokemon will be caught quicker with this" he put it down picking up one much like a normal pokeball but with yellow spots on either side and a lightning bolt down the middle of the red "This is a Fastball, anything that's running away wont get far with these" Kurt put it down and picked up one final pokeball, one with a grey top and four blue spots on it "This is a heavyball, the heavier the pokemon the better it will work"

Each of the trainers pocketed one of each of the pokeballs then said there goodbyes

The group left the shop the GS Ball now in hand a made their way through the forest nearing the other side when a small shrine wooden shrine came into view. A red roof adorned the shrine over closed wooden doors with a small indent in it. Tracey looked at the indent closely measuring it's sides "It looks big enough for a pokeball" he took the GS Ball out of a pocket he had been carrying it in "Do you think I should..." he trailed off. The GS Ball had started to glow a bright white from the crack in the bottom of it

Mew flew over examining it carefully before taking it out of Tracey's hands "Celebi always does this when she wants to talk to someone" Mew said "Send someone on a weird errand instead of just appearing" Mew placed the GS Ball in the indent of the shrine. A bright white light burst from the shrines doors and encompassed the area blinding everyone in the clearing. When the light died down Ash was gone and in his place was a small note

Misty gingerly picked up the note "Sorry about having to borrow your friend. Will be back soon enough-Celebi" Misty read aloud furrowing her brow "Should we be concerned?" she turned to the psychic cat

Mew's face turned to one of concern "Celebi isn't really one for hurting others but she's never done this" Mew trailed off

Brock crossed his arms "I think the best we can do is just wait for Ash to get back. Presuming he gets back"

 **MEANWHILE WITH ASH**

Ash blinked the light out of his eyes. He was standing in what seemed to be a mixture of a forest and a bedroom, trees and plants adorned the sides of the room, a glowing teal gear span near the ceiling, a small bed sat in one corner next to a shrine almost a perfect replica of the one that Ash head been near until recently in Azalea, the only difference being no indent in the shrine, a long table sat in the middle of the room with long lines of string stretching from each side of the table, each string branching off into different lines some intertwining and some ending half way across the table. And in front of the table floating was the psychic of time Celebi

Ash looked at the psychic who was studying him silently "Uh hello?"

Celebi shook her head "Yes yes hello, sorry. Sorry for dragging you so suddenly but this is urgent, honestly I was going to wait a few more months but you've really messed things up. No offence"

Ash shrugged "I mean you didn't have to be so up front about it but none taken. So what's wrong?" Ash walked over to the psychic looking at the many lines of string held down by pins

A green flash of light filled the room at the GS Ball was floating in front of Celebi "This, this is all of the issue" the ball rotated displaying the crack predominantly "this was not meant to happen and since it has happened lots of things have been messed up such as.." Celebi trailed off "It would probably be easier to show you, take a look" Celebi gestured to the table which in a flash had been reorganized to have only a single line directly in the middle running one end to the other "Now you see this is the timeline you're on"

Ash smirked "Literal time lines? I can appreciate the pun"

Celebi nodded happily "Exactly! Where do you think we get the phrase from. Despite the fact that some people, mainly Dialga and some professors, will claim it's related to their discoveries and the usage of it in historical events, mainly the two great wars, it comes from the scientist Edward Lorenz who was the first to approach me to ask about the subject in ancient times!" Celebi shook her head "Sorry I'm getting off topic" she turned back to the table "Now this line is the timeline we're all on. You, me and everything else that can't time travel at a whim" she ran a hand across the line "It lasts for the entirety of time and space as it's the Alpha Timeline. Follow?"

Ash nodded "Makes sense, but I'm assuming something's gone wrong?"

Celebi shrugged "More everything's gone wrong. Now with the GS Ball having a crack in it" a second line branched off from the first abruptly ending mere inches after starting "This happens; timeline splits and everyone and everything in it goes down with the ship. You, me and everyone but Dialga"

Ash grimaced "Is there any way we can stop this? I like not being dead personally"

Celebi smiled "that's a fair point I can get behind. I've been given permission to give you this one time based favour so seriously don't mess this up okay?" A second GS Ball appeared in front of Celebi no crack on the bottom "Now don't break this okay? It's instrumental in making sure everyone doesn't disappear from existence" the second GS Ball floated into Ash's hands "That's about it though. Make sure not to mess everything up! Ready to go back to your friends?"

"Wait a second" Ash said holding a hand "Is there anything you can tell me about the future that wont mess everything up?"

Celebi thought on this for a moment her eyes glowing a bright blue for a second before fading "One thing, anything else would not help the timelines. Don't be afraid to use your normal form or other illusions more often, your friends know you're a pokemon now remember?" Celebi's eyes started glowing again "Now I'll see you again in a few months!" A bright flash encompassed the room and Ash was gone

 **MEANWHILE BACK IN AZALEA FOREST**

A bright flash encompassed the clearing the group was waiting in again and when it died down Ash was back standing in the middle of the forest. Ash blinked the light out of his eyes looking around "Well that was something"

Tracey ran up to Ash looking concerned "Are you okay? We were worried you wouldn't be back for a while"

Ash nodded taking his book out of his bag "Yeah it was a very odd conversation. And we got this" Ash closed the book taking the new GS Ball out of his pocket handing it to Tracey as he flipped another page in his book "Apparently that crack in it really messed up time and space a lot, like destroying all of time a lot"

Tracey grimaced "That sounds... bad"

The group gathered their items as Ash explained the situation to the rest of the group while they continued walking towards Goldenrod "So where did you end up anyway?" Misty asked soon after Ash had explained the entire situation

Ash flipped a page in his book thinking "It was a room for sure, but the walls were lined with plants and trees, plus there was a long table in the centre with lines over it which were the timelines I told you about"

Mew's eyes widened "She took you to the Hall of Origin" Mew said surprised "Each legendary has a room up there. No non legendary has ever been up there!"

Pikachu shook his head surprised "Of course Ash is the first, of course"

Ash grinned "Next time I'll try and bring you along okay?" he laughed

Brock sighed leading the group "Team Rocket ahead, they've got a Totodile in a cage"

Ash ran past Misty, Tracey and Brock his pokemon trailing behind him "Don't hit the cage but get Team Rocket away from it!" Multiple attacks were launched in quick succession some missing the cage by mere inches but each making contact with the very surprised Team Rocket as they were mid celebration

"That was cheap!" James yelled as the group blasted off

Ash skidded to a halt in front of the cage kneeling down to look at the watertype who was looking out of the cage in wonder "Are you okay?" he asked setting to work on the lock "those people are really bad we've met them before"

The lock broke and the door to the cage flew open as the water type jumped at Ash "Thank you thank you thank you!" the watertype tackled Ash to the ground as the rest of the group arrived on the scene "They were saying awful things! Like they were going to sell me and give me to their boss"

Ash laughed pushing himself up as the water type jumped back "It's okay we were just passing through and I'm always okay to help"

"Are you a trainer? Please tell me you're a trainer! I want to beat those guys again" Totodile said quickly looking at the group arriving "Are they trainers? Are they with you"

"Calm down calm down" Butterfree said "My friend Ash here is a trainer yes"

Ash nodded standing up letting Totodile stand on the ground "That I am, would you like to join me?"

Totodile nodded enthusiastically "Of course! I need to beat those guys some day"

Ash shrugged taking Lureball out of his pocket "If you say so" he tapped it to the watertypes head and a second later the capture dinged, Ash released the watertype from the pokeball after it captured "Welcome to the team"

A few days later we find our heroes camping in the midst of a forest clouded with fog. The shadows of pokemon flying above the camp from time to time as the sun set. Tracey frowned closing his sketching book unable to see any pokemon around, the artist stood up from his seat on the ground "I'm going to look around for a better place to draw, can one of you stay up until I get back?"

Brock nodded "Of course. Good luck by the way"

Tracey smiled "Thanks. See you all soon" Tracey made his way into the thick fog. Passing by multiple trees the artist eventually settled on a low hanging but sturdy branch of a tree where multiple pokemon were pearched above him in the trees. The artist sketched for a while until a new pokemon landed on a branch just to the left of him. A Noctowl with a golden plumage, red wings and a pattern of black triangles running down it's plumage. Tracey quickly set to work on the drawing attempting to move as little as possible while his hands whirled across the page drawing every detail of the bird. When he was done the artist slowly pushed himself up from his sitting position brushing leaves out of the way

Suddenly the flying type snapped its head to Tracey locking eyes with the trainer. The shiny birds eyes glowed a dark blue illuminating the forest, the artists eyes glowed with the same blue a second later "Hello" a voice spoke in the mind of Tracey "why is it you were drawing me"

Tracey leaned back surprised falling out of the tree to the ground "You can talk?"

"Negative" Noctowl said "I can use telepathy to convey my thoughts to your mind. Why were you drawing me"

Tracey opened his sketchbook showing it to the flying type "I'm an artist and researcher for a professor. It's my job to draw every pokemon I see, did you know I was there the whole time?"

"Positive" Noctowl telepathed "I was aware of your presence. May I see your memories"

Tracey raised an eyebrow confused "What do you mean?"

"Your memories. May I see them to know your past" Noctowl repeated

"I... I guess?" Tracey said hesitantly, the glow in the eyes of the pokemon and artist glowed brigher before changing to a yellow glow. A few seconds past and the glow turned back to blue

"Intriguing. You are one of the chosen" Noctowl stated

Tracey raised an eyebrow "You mean me and my friends?"

"Positive. You and your companions are chosen by Arceus" Noctowl confirmed

Tracey nodded "Oh. I forgot about that. What's so important about that?"

"Intriguing. You are not aware of the importance of your title." Noctowl titled her head far to the left "Yet you have been involved in a major event."

"The event on Shamouti?" Tracey asked recieving a nod from Noctowl "that was because of me travelling with Ash?"

"Positive." Noctowl confirmed "You seem confused about this. I will come with you" Noctowl stated

"What do you mean come with me?" Tracey asked "I don't battle often"

"Acknowledged. I will come with you. You will need help you wont have with out me soon" Noctowl "and I am able to assist with your artistic abilities"

"How so? I don't seem to sound rude but I prefer to work alone on it" Tracey explained

"Acknowledged. I can use my abilities to make you quieter." Noctowl said

Tracey nodded slowly "Okay.. So should I catch you?"

"Positive. If you do not then there will be complications" Noctowl explained. Tracey unclipped a pokeball from his belt holding it up "Negative. The green pokeball you received from the maker"

Tracey raised an eyebrow clipping the pokeball back to his belt "The Friendball? Why that one in particular"

"Positive. The effects of the Friendball will allow us to communicate while I am not outside of it" Noctowl explained

Tracey unclipped the Friendball from his belt "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. I hope I am of use to your team." Noctowl stated before tapping her beak against the Friendball. A few seconds later the capture confirmed in a shower of golden sparks. Noctowl released themselves from the pokeball a second later "Thank you. Your friends are waiting"

Tracey and Noctowl set off back through the forest "So how is it you have psychic powers? Noctowl don't usually have them"

"Positive. I was born with them. My father escaped from a Team Rocket experiment" Noctowl explained

Tracey hummed thoughtfully "So they experimented on him and that gave him psychic powers?"

"Positive." Noctowl confirmed "Apparently it caused him great harm"

Tracey shook his head sadly "I'm sorry for bringing it up"

"Acknowledged. It is okay to be curious" Noctowl said

The duo continued walking through the forest nearing the camp "So what are the effects of me catching you with the Friendball?" Tracey asked

"Acknowledged. This will allow us to build a friendship quicker and allow me to communicate to you while inside the Friendball" Noctowl explained "We are approaching the camp"

The duo walked through the fog arriving in the camp, the last embers of the fire still flickering. Brock sat around the fire stoking it with a stick "Ah. You're bac-" Brock cut himself off "Tracey what's with your eyes, and new friend"

"This is Noctowl, she's joining my team" Tracey sat down next to Brock "as for the eye thing, Noctowl can use psychic" Noctowl nodded eyes flitting around the camp

Brock shook his head smiling "Well you'll have to tell me that story soon. I'm going to sleep, make sure to put out the fire before you do" Brock put down the stick he was stoking the fire with and climbed into one of the four tents in the clearing

Tracey looked at the campfire before turning to Noctowl "How soon is the event you warned me about?"

"Positive. Within a week"

Three days later we find our heroes standing over a hill looking over a town the group had planned to camp out in on the last stop to Goldenrod "This is... unexpected" Brock said concerned. The town the group had planned to stay in, Greenfield, was covered in crystal, from the manor that looked out over the town to the roof of the pokecenter on the outskirts of the town "We should probably head to the pokecenter" Brock advised receiving general agreements from the group.

The group slowly scaled down the hill arriving in the town minutes later. The group slowly made their way through the town examining the crystals that seemed to grow over it before walking into the Pokecenter. A news team stood in the corner reporting on the sudden appearance of the crystals and disappearance of the family owning the manor, the Hale's. The group made their way to the front desk, the Nurse Joy looked at them sadly as they approached "If you're planning on staying here tonight I wouldn't recommend it, several people have gone missing over the past week" the Nurse shook her head "Sorry. It's been a tough week"

Misty held back Brock a concerned look on her face "Who's gone missing?"

"Nearly all the town, a professor from out of town and a woman that came with him. His assistant is resting upstairs if you want to talk with him, first room on the left" the Nurse explained "Room's are free until we can get this sorted out by the way" she added

The group took keys to two rooms then sat down at a nearby bench. Ash flipped a page in his book "What should we do? I mean we should help obviously, but where do we start?"

Brock brought a hand to his chin thinking "The best place would be with the professors assistant. You don't think it's Oak do you?"

Tracey frowned "That would be bad... We should go see the assistant" The group made their way upstairs into the rooms of the pokecenter. Tracey taking the lead the group knocked on the door they had been told was the one the assistant was staying in

A few seconds later the door swung open revealing a clone of Ash, a labcoat swung lazily around his shoulders and his hair tied in a messy ponytail "Oh. Good now I don't have to make the call" Ash's clone sighed flipping his book "I assume the Nurse has told you about what's been going on? Come in we need to talk" Ash's clone stepped aside letting the various trainers and pokemon in

The group sat around a table set in the middle of the room "So if you're here then the professor is in danger" Tracey stated

Ash's clone nodded sadly flipping a page in his book "Indeed. Three days ago we received a message from this pokecenter telling us about the current issues with the town, the random kidnappings and the crystal's appearance. Me, the Professor and, thinking you were here Ash, Delia arrived here a day later. Yesterday, after we figured out the crystals are a production of some sort of strong energy, the three of us were accosted by a large group of Unknowns, who I think are the cause of the crystals, I was knocked out and when I came too the Professor and Delia had vanished"

Tracey stood up quickly "We have to save them" Tracey made for the door before being caught by Ash's clone

Ash's clone flipped a page in his book with his free hand "Hold it I have more to tell you." Tracey sat back down nerviously "Now from what the remaining people in the town have seen those who vanish seem to show up around the manor at the north of the town, the Hale manor, having done some field research I can say they do. There's a way around the back of the manor through a small river running into the gardens"

Brock brought a hand to his chin "Is their any similarities to those who disappear?"

Ash's clone flipped another page "From what I've been told, no. If you're planning on going to rescue those in the manor I can take you to the waterway after that I'm coming back here to call in support"

Ash raised an eyebrow "Support?"

Ash's clone nodded "The Professor told me the pokegear numbers of some people in the area that could help."

Tracey stood up "I'm going to go in their at the least. People are trapped in their"

Misty grinned standing up "That's right! People need our help and it's not like it's the first time we've done something this dangerous"

"If I may" Mewtwo interjected "It would be wise to teleport straight to the entrance to the manor. I understand the want to not use teleportation in casual situations but this does seem important"

Ash smiled flipping a page in his book "Mewtwo's right. I say we go straight in and try to stay hidden for as long as possible, or we could go in all guns blazing"

Ash's clone shook his head "Stay hidden. Unknown are powerful when in groups and even if you and I can resist their psychic prowess no one else in this room can"

"The best course of action would be to stick together hidden for as long as possible and use aggression as a last resort" Mewtwo advised.

Brock nodded "Makes the most logical sense. Ash you can use illusions to make us invisible correct?"

Ash nodded flipping a page in his book "As long as we stick together I can do that and more"

Brock smiled "Then if everyone agrees I think we can set this into motion" The group left the pokecenter soon after leaving Ash's clone behind to gather backup. The group teleported through the help of Mew and Mewtwo to the outskirts of the manor where a small stream led into the manor that was covered in crystal. The group slowly made their way down the stream covered by Ash's illusions making them visible only to the eyes of each other

The group swam through the stream, the flying types went over the fence, as it went under a gap in the fence into the gardens around the manor. Ash, who was leading the group, stopped suddenly as he climbed onto land, Brock climbed up next to Ash "Ash what's wro-" Brock stopped suddenly "Dear Arceus" he muttered. The grounds were scattered with various people of differing ages and genders. Each persons eyes were glassy and they stumbled from place to place seemingly unsure of where to move "Is... Is this because of the Unknown?"

A pokeball burst open on Tracey's belt as he pulled himself onto the grass "Positive. These people are effected by strong psychic powers." stated Noctowl through a combination of psychic powers and speech

Ivysaur raised a vine pointing to a door that led into the back of the manor "We should move quickly in case the illusion fades" Despite three members of the party being unable to understand pokemon the message was obvious. The group slowly and purposefully moved through the garden stopping to avoid wandering people. Slowly they opened the back door and crept in making their way through winding halls until they came to a large staircase one flight going up and the other going down into darkness

Misty raised an eyebrow concernedly looking to the rest of the group "Which way do we go?"

Ash shrugged flipping a page in his book "We should stick together. I personally say up"

"Negative." Noctowl said suddenly having been silent since the time outside of the manor "There's immense psychic energy's coming from below us, by my estimation the source, above us is the controller of the Unknown however. Splitting up is the wise option"

Oricorio hummed thoughtfully "Two and two is optimal correct? One team goes downstairs and one goes upstairs" Ash hurridly translated the flying type for the rest of the group

"fair enough" Misty conceeded "So the question becomes what should the team's be?"

Mew's eyes glowed a bright blue "The psychic power from below us is waaay less powerful in battling strength then the one above us, best battlers should go up!"

"That's Ash and Misty" Brock said "Me and Tracey should go downstairs"

Ash looked surprised flipping a page in his book "You two are great battlers! Don't put yourself down"

Tracey laughed "I don't think that's what Brock meant. It's more along the lines that you two have won leagues and we haven't"

Brock nodded holding back a laugh "Also if it's less powerful downstairs we wont need you to hide us with your illusions so there's that"

Ash nodded slowly flipping another page in his book "Alright then. Good luck"

The group split up, the two league winners heading up into the upper floors of the manor whilst the artist and the breeder headed down into the unknown basement of the manor. Our story splits here between the two groups, one side would journey into ancient ruins and slowly deconstruct the psychic powers present in the mansion and the other would take part in a battle against legends. For now let's see the first group

Brock and Tracey slowly made their way down the staircase. Lighting became scare and the wooden floors of the manor slowly became dirt, then rock and finally a dirt brick with complicated inscriptions depicting unknown spelling various words. The duo, unable to see, pulled flashlights out of their packs turning them on as they reached the final steps of the staircase revealing a large open room. The dirt bricks covered the floor, wall and roof. Pillars stretched from the ground to the roof that was held high above the room. In the centre, above a large stone tablet, seemingly thousands of Unknown span around a blue crystal "Is that the source of all of this?" Tracey asked looking to Noctowl who was sitting on his shoulder

"Positive. The only way to stop them is to destroy the crystal" Noctowl confirmed "High aggresion is the only way. I will not be able to assist in the fight in order to make sure neither of you get psychically attacked by the unknown"

Tracey and Brock slowly crouched down "Okay, what's the plan?" Tracey asked glancing at the unknown "I mean, we need to destroy the crystal but how do we go about doing that"

Brock took in a deep breath thinking "Our best bet would be to use status effects, paralysing many of them at once, inflicting burn for example. Then get close and destroy the crystal somehow"

Tracey nodded slowly deep in thought "And if we can send someone quick, like Scyther, to get the crystal and destroy it quickly"

Brock nodded standing up "Ready?"

"Yeah" Tracey stood up "On the count of three" Tracey pocketed his flashlight "One" Brock took a pokeball off his belt "Two" Tracey did the same "Three!" Brock threw a pokeball quickly throwing three more from his belt. The three pokeballs revealed Zapdos, Zubat, Vulpix and Aerodactyl. Tracey threw two pokeballs revealing Scyther and Moltres "Moltres Fire spin, keep as many of them trapped as you can! Scyther aim for the crystal the Unknown are protecting!" Moltres took off in a blaze of fire bathing the ruins in light from fire. Moltres reered back and spat fire that compressed into a tornado of fire trapping a chunk of the unknown inside it. Scyther dashed around the room taking Unknown out slowly making her way to the centre

"Zapdos Thunder wave, Zubat Confuse Ray all of the Unknown you can get to, Vulpix Imprison the ones around the crystal in the middle let Scyther get to it. Aerodactyl keep everyone safe" Zapdos's wings sparked with electricity that sprang off his back arcing between Unknown sending them to the floor. Zubat sent yellow waves across the waves of Unknown causing some of them to fall to the ground. Several of the unknown around the crystal simply stopped moving and fell to the floor surrounded by blue energy, the same glow in Vulpix's eyes. As several Hidden Power's flew around the room they were shot out the sky by quickly moving Ancient Power's from Aerodactyl

A few seconds past and in a blur of green and white the crystal was cut in half by Scyther. In a blinding flash of light a portal appeared where the crystal was, the unknowns that were paralyzed, trapped in a fire tornado or just generally incapacitated suddenly hovered back in flying into the portal along with all the other unknown, when the room was cleared from Unknown the portal closed suddenly leaving the ruins barely lit by Moltres's flames "Well" Tracey recalled Moltres and Scyther with a curtious nod "I think that's our part done" The portal suddenly reopened and two people fell out of it landing on the ground panting. Brock and Tracey ran up to them exchanging confused looks

Now with the collapse of the source of the Unknown let us step back two minutes to our second set of heroes.

Ash and Misty ran up the stairs pokemon trailing behind "Ash what's the plan when we get up these stairs" Pidgeot asked "If it's not a pokemon behind this all I mean"

Ash shrugged "Attempt to arrest them? All I can hope for is that it is a pokemon. Be really awkward if it's not"

"It's a pokemon" Mewtwo confirmed "No humans have this level of psychic power"

"There's a door" Misty called down the stairs having reached the top. She leant her ear against it "People are talking behind it. A gruff voice and..." Misty trailed off "I think it's Delia" Ash and his pokemon reached the top of the stairs "What's the plan"

Ash flipped a page in his book "We need to go in all guns blazing. In case there's more than one person I need you to back me up"

Misty sighed "Alright. On the count of three we run in okay? One, two" Ash kicked the door down "Arceus Christ, Ash!"

Ash ran into the room his team running behind him. Inside the room a bed laid in one corner, Delia sat, glassy eyed, on it next to a young girl that none of the group recognised. The room was covered in crystal from wall to wall across the roof and over the floor. Oh and a Entei was staring down the group from the centre of the room "Who are you to charge into this room! Begone" The fire legendary roared.

Ash took this opportunity to throw a shadowball at the legendary. "Release everyone you've hypnotised! Or whatever it is" Ash yelled throwing another "And where's the professor"

"Papa stop the mean man!" The child on the bed cried

The Entei lowered its head "Of course, Molly" then it charged

The various people and pokemon still standing at the door dived to the side as the Entei charged through "This" Ivysaur said decidedly "Is the weirdest adventure yet"

"I don't know" Clefable fired an icebeam at the legendary as it skidded back to face the group "That time when Ash died was up there"

Ash hummed thoughtfully "That seemed more dramatic then weird. By the way, everyone full power attack please" Ash flipped a page in his book giving the same message to Misty. The water type trainer tossed pokeballs from her belt quickly revealing all her pokemon. A plethora of attacks fired. From electricity to psychic moves there was no way for Entei to avoid all of them. When the dust cleared from the attacks Entei was still standing on shaky legs

"You'll have to try harder than-" Entei's legs slowly started vanishing "Oh... Your friends have" Entei dissipated quickly as the crystal's on the walls vanished. Delia's eyes shot into focus as she looked around the room

"Ash? What are you doing here, for that matter where are we?" Delia asked

Ash shrugged flipping a page in his book "Long story short, you were kidnapped we think"

The girl looked shocked "Papa? What did you do to him" she asked confused

Misty walked over to the girl kneeling down to her "I'm sorry but that wasn't your father, and this isn't your mother" the girl started tearing up before Brock and Tracey walked into the room carrying the two people from earlier with them. A man and a woman"

"Molly!" The woman yelled happily pushing herself out of the help of the two trainers "I'm so happy to see you" the man smiled walking next to the woman "We're so sorry about... everything"

The various trainers in the room slowly left leaving the now known parents of the girl to explain everything. The group walked down the stairs "So that wasn't a real Entei?" Totodile asked sadly "I thought we could take on a real Entei"

Pikachu laughed "I mean give it a couple of weeks and we might meet a real Entei, you never know"

"Let's hope we don't have to save a town next time we meet one" Butterfree said "That just seemed absurd honestly"

The group made their way to the door they had come in from when it was quickly pushed open "We're here to help!" A voice yelled. From the door came Silver and a boy with messy black hair, a red jacket and goggles strapped over his head. The duo stopped looking around "...Were we late?" The unknown boy said

Misty shrugged "By a few minutes. Are you the support Oak's assistant called in?"

The unknown boy grinned "Yup! Names Gold, Gold Ethan"

Silver nodded "I think we've already met"

The door opened again and a agitated Professor Oak stumbled in "I told you it would be okay now" He sighed looking at the group "Ah, I assume you saved us again Ash?"

Ash tilted his head in thought before flipping a page in his book "Saying it was all me would be wrong. But I did have something to do with it"

Gold looked backwards and forwards between the group "I... I guess I'll just be going then" he awkwardly walked out of the room being followed by Silver, the latter ranting about how they would've got there earlier if it wasn't for Gold doing something

The group slowly made their way out of the town seeing the people returning to their homes or to the pokecenter. The Professor soon left the group to meet up with Ash's clone and explain what had happened to the news team. And for now we find our heroes heading off towards Goldenron City, the high skyscrapers of it already in view.

* * *

Authors Corner: Gonna be honest again. I REALLY don't like this movie. I think it shows in the ending which I rushed alot. However to counteract this the three recurring characters introduced in this chapter (Celebi, Totodile and Noctowl) Are honestly some of my favourite characters so far, Celebi is probably ADD, next chapter is gonna be real short with it only being the Goldenrod gym battle so expect it in a day or two. Sorry for the delay on this chapter I got bored midway through writing which really makes me sound like an awful author now that I look at it.


	20. Chapter 20

Authors Corner: You know 20 seems like a major milestone for me; this is a whole ten chapters since the first league, which is still my favourite chapter, this one won't be long though since legitimately nothing happens between M03 and the gym battle

* * *

Our heroes absent mindedly walked through Golderod city, admiring the skyscrapers that were taller than any in Kanto. Making their way to the gym that sat near the edge of town

"I've been wondering" Butterfree said out of the blue "When do you think Suicune will show up again? Didn't she say we would meet her again soon"

"And what she said about the whole time-destroying thing. I thought last week might have been it but that wasn't connected to anything" Oriocorio added "plus we haven't seen her brothers. Who I assume are the other beasts of legend."

Totodile perked up, having not been told about the previous events the group had been through, looking surprised "You've met Suicune?" he asked in awe "Like the actual Suicune and not another illusion"

Pikachu nodded "Get used to it, I think we meet a new legendary pokemon every month or so."

"Then Ecruteak City will be great! The Legendary Beasts were created there" Totodile said happily "I used to live there too"

Cyndaquill hummed quietly "How do you know so much about the region? Weren't you always wild"

Totodile nodded happily "Yup! But some people once dropped a whole bunch of books near the pond I lived in, they were really informational!"

"Gym's just up ahead" Ash said "We don't know the rules yet, but who would want a battle the most?"

Totodile jumped up and down "I need to try one, please!"

Ash nodded happily "Of course, but this will be difficult so be prepared" The Gym's doors slid open revealing a standard circular arena, a girl with pink hair stood prepared with a referee next to her

"Hello!" she yelled beckoning the group over "Is one of you Ash Ketchum?" Ash raised his hand stepping to the battlefield "Finally! I'm Whitney, the gym leader. Now you're here to fight my eight badge team right?" Ash nodded "Amazing! I've got a special challenge prepared for you. Each of us will only use one pokemon first off, and each of us can only use one attack for that pokemon! Oh and leaving the arena boundary is a ring out which is a loss"

Ash raised an eyebrow flipping a page in his book "Why?"

Whitney shrugged "Because it's challenging and I've spent the past few weeks figuring this out. Now stop asking questions and send out your pokemon!"

Ash turned to his team "Totodile you still want to take this fight?"

Totodile jumped forwards "Of course! I can do this"

"Alright! Go Miltank" Whitney threw her pokeball revealing the aforementioned Miltank. She turned to the referee "Start the match!"

The referee hurridly ran to the side of the arena, in between the two trainers, and raised two flags "The battle between the leader, Whitney Akane of Golderod City, and the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, will now begin!"

"Miltank use Rollout!" Whitney yelled. A second later her Miltank curled up into a ball and started building speed barrelling towards Totodile

Ash's eyes widened "Make sure to dodge!" Totodile barely had time to scurry left leaving Miltank to stop next to Ash turning back to Totodile. Ash thought for a second cycling trough every move Totodile knew in his head "Watergun! Full power to your left" Totodile turned his head quickly shooting a blast of water from his mouth. The force of which sent him flying back to Whiteney's side of the battlefield further away from Miltank. The normal type, having began a rollout just before Totodile escaped, barely stopping at the arena's boundry

"Go again! And be prepared for him to dodge" Whitney's Miltank barrelled forward aiming for Totodile again

"Step back three steps" Ash said eyes narrowed in concentration "then when I say use Watergun, full power again, at the ground" Miltank gained speed closing the gap as Totodile stepped back, feet just in front of the line, the distance closed in nearly a second "Now!" Totodile shot another Watergun at the ground. Flying up just in time to not get hit by the Rollout. Whitney's Miltank stopped feet barely touching the boundary of the arena as Totodile landed behind it "Watergun behind you quickly!" Ash yelled

Totodile whipped his head around and shot a Watergun with barely any power in it, despite this it hit Miltank dead on. Miltank stumbled falling just over the line "Ring out!" The referee yelled raising a flag to Ash "The winner is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Totodile jumped happily running back to Ash's side of the field "I did it! I won a gym battle!"

Ash smiled "Yeah you did! Great job Totodile"

Whitney pouted recalling her Miltank before walking over to Ash unclipping the badge on her shirt "Spent two weeks coming up with that strategy just to be beaten in under ten minutes" she muttered "Well, good job Ash. That was a creative use of Watergun if I've ever seen it" she handed the badge to Ash "You deserve this. Now head north of here to Ecruteak, Morty's waiting for you. And don't beat him as quickly as you beat me okay?"

Ash nodded clipping the badge to his coat with the other badge's he had won in Johto before flipping a page in his book "I can't promise anything, the battle was great though so thank you"

Whiteney grinned "Glad you enjoyed it! Now get outta here and make it to the league. I don't want to lose to someone who doesn't even make it there"

The group set off from Goldenrod quickly heading towards Ecruteak where they would find three things

The first being Ash's fourth gym battle against the ghost type trainer, Morty

The second being the two towers of Ecruteak, while one was burned the other stood tall with many secrets in it

And the final. The final being the first of a trio of legendary pokemon following the group

* * *

Authors Corner: Wow what a short and possibly bad chapter! Literally between the events of M03 and this badge there's nothing. NOTHING! However the next chapters, and arguably the rest of Johto, is what I've been really looking forward to this region. Especially Movie four and five. Until next time

Oh and this chapter took almost a week because of personal issues that no one really wants to hear about


	21. Chapter 21

Authors Corner: This chapter is really where filler episodes become a regular part of the series. Despite going over only three major episodes there's twenty episodes of progress here. Next chapter also is the next Johto movie which I've been building to for a while

* * *

We find our heroes currently caught in the midst of a rainstorm on the way to Ecruteak City

"There!" Misty yelled, pointing with the hand she wasn't holding Togepi in. Ahead of the group loomed a tall castle in the middle of a clearing "We can take shelter in there"

Brock, holding a frying pan over his head to stop rain, frowned "People probably live in there"

Misty rolled her eyes "Oh well! Worst comes to worst we get kicked out and continue in the rain. Can't help to try"

"We could always just try to find shelter under the trees if it doesn't work" Tracey pointed out "The rain can't last too long right?"

The group made their way to the door of the castle. Misty knocked on the door with her free hand, the door quickly opened revealing a man in a long doctors coat "Hello, how can I help you?"

"We're looking for shelter from the rain, can you let us stay until it blows over?" Misty asked glancing around the large room that was decorated like the lobby of a hospital

The man frowned "I'm sorry. But we run a hospital in here, we can't take time to shelter you. Sorry once again"

Misty sighed "Alright, good luck with your patients" the group started making their way

"Hold on!" The doctor said before the group can leave "If you help with one thing you can stay" the group turned back to the doctor "you see we've had issues with a group of criminals attempting to steal the pokemon that we use to help our patients. If any of you can get them to stop attacking us we can let you stay until the rain blows over"

Brock raised an eyebrow "Who're the criminals?"

The doctor shrugged "They seem to be remnants of Team Rocket. They have a Meowth with them"

A collective sigh went through the group "I'll get them" Brock said "Where are they?"

"We've tracked them down to camping in a cave a mile or so south of here. Considering the weather they should still be there"

Brock nodded "I'll be back soon" the breeder set off, taking a compass out of a pocket, walking to the south using his free hand to cover his head with a frying pan. Brock soon found a small cave the light of a fire dying down inside it. Inside the cave sat two people and one pokemon talking in hushed voices

Brock frowned taking a pokeball from his belt "Have you three been attacking a hospital north of here?"

The trio of Rocket's looked up suddenly from their discussion "Um... Maybe?" James said quietly

"You need to stop that, and get out of here" Brock said sternly "People need help in that hospital and you're not helping"

Jessie rolled her eyes standing up "So what! We need the money. And we can take you! You're only one person against all three of us"

Brock threw his pokeball revealing Zubat "Zubat! Air Slash" Zubat's wings glowed a bright blue before firing repeated blue waves of Energy at the rockets. Seconds later they were sent through the roof of the cave. Brock smiled at Zubat "That was amazing, Zubat. Good job" A bright white light enveloped Zubat blinding the breeder. It died down soon after revealing a Golbat. The flying type perched on Zubat's shoulder happily "Amazing! Let's get back to the group so we can celebrate"

Brock made his way back to the Hospital, Golbat on his shoulder the whole way. Soon he and the poison type were making their way back into the lobby of the hospital. The group looked to the breeder as he reentered

"So, how'd it go?" Misty asked, looking at Golbat "I assume good?"

Brock nodded, smiling with Golbat "They're not going to be an issue any more, don't worry."

The doctor smiled "Good! We have some spare rooms down the hallway to your left and then first door on the right"

The group made their way to the rooms given to them by the doctor, falling asleep for the night until they set off the next morning with no rain in sight.

The next day our group has arrived in a small city by the name of Bonitaville. One of the few towns in Johto that currently held contests. Our group was currently relaxing in the pokecenter of the town

"Brock!" A voice called, interrupting the conversation between the group, from just out of view. The group looked up to see Suzie, the woman who had given Brock, Vulpix over a year ago "I'm so glad you're here! I was going to try and contact you soon"

Brock stood up quickly "Oh, Suzie. How have you been?"

Suzie smiled "Good, hey can you come with me quickly. I need to ask you a couple of questions"

Brock looked at the rest of the group "Is it alright if...?"

Tracey nodded "We'll figure out the plan while you're away, don't worry."

Brock stood up and followed Suzie as she led him to a nearby shop in the town "So.. do you still have Vulpix with you?"

The Breeder raised an eyebrow "Yeah. We've been through quite a bit over the past year"

Suzie raised an eyebrow inquisitvely "Oh yeah? Like what"

Brock smiled in thought "So much.." Brock proceeded to retell the stories he had experienced with the fire type by his side, from the adventures of New Island to the fight against, and subsequent capture, of Zapdos. Leaving out the parts that would indicate Ash was a pokemon

Suzie smiled sadly "seems like you've had some great times then"

Brock looked at the woman confused "What's the point of all of this? Asking me to come talk to you and everything"

Suzie frowned slowly "Well, I've been thinking of getting into Pokemon contests, and I was hoping to have Vulpix with me for them. But it sounds like you've been through so much more together than we ever did"

Brock brought a hand to his chin thinking "I don't feel like that should be my decision to make though. Vulpix was your pokemon, I just travelled with him"

Suzie grimaced "So we're at a standstill, I don't want to take Vulpix if he doesn't want to. And you don't want to force him to stay"

The duo stood in awkward silence for a minute before Brock suddenly stood up straighter "Why don't we ask him? Four of the pokemon with us can translate pokemon into English"

Suzie looked at Brock in surprise "They can? That would be... Perfect!"

The duo quickly made their way back to the pokecenter and to the group who was leaning over a map "Hey, Ash" Brock called, causing the trainer to look up "Can you do some quick translation for us?"

Ash stood up nodding, flipping a page in his book "Sure, what do you need?"

Brock released Vulpix from his pokeball "Just to tell us what Vulpix's saying"

Suzie knelt down to Vulpix. "Vulpix, it's Suzie, do you remember me?"

Vulpix happily yapped. Ash flipped a page in his book quickly "He says of course he does"

Suzie smiled "I'm glad. So, I was wondering if you would like to rejoin with me. I know you've been travelling with Brock for over a year now but I was going to get into contests and I understand if you don't"

"But don't feel pressured" Brock raised his hands "I don't mind if you want to go, if you do it's been amazing to travel with you"

Vulpix was silent for a moment in thought before speaking. Ash hurridly flipped pages "I do want to come with you, Suzie, but I've spent so much time with Brock. I feel bad though, are you really alright with me not coming with you?"

Suzie smiled "Of course. The months I spent with you were great, thank you, I'll miss you but it's alright" Suzie stood up and looked to Brock "And thank you, Brock. It's been nice to get some closure on this"

The group said their goodbyes to Suzie before she left. They finished off planning the final stretch of their journey to Ecruteak

Two days later we find our group walking into Ecruteak looking at the sights of the city, the one tower that loomed over the small city standing next to the one that was burnt to rubble

Ash flipped a page in his book "So, where's the gym?"

Misty pointed towards a large building in the centre of town "My best bet is there"

The group made their way to the gym. Halfway to the building the sound of a bell rang out over the town, stopping the group. Seemingly the entire city stopped, the locals looking around to identify the source, many of them looking to the tower. A blue and purple blur ran through the town before circling around the group, eventually stopping in front of them. In front of the group stood a legendary beast known through the lands. Suicune.

"Heroes." Suicune said telepathically "I am here to test you."

Ash stepped back "I'm sorry?"

"I am here to test you." Suicune repeated "I did tell you I would test you yes? I do remember that. So here I am to test, you specifically Ash Ketchum"

"I feel like I'm missing something here" Misty said confused "When did that happen?"

Tracey looked confused "Didn't we tell you? On the way to Johto, Suicune found me and Ash and said she would test us sometime"

Brock shook his head "You didn't tell us"

Ash stepped forward to Suicune "So, what's the test?"

Suicune began circling Ash "A simple one. I wish for a battle with you. Not your pokemon, but you, Ash Ketchum."

Ash glanced around at the time "Can we move somewhere else then? A battle in public like this wouldn't end well"

Suicune contemplated this "That is a fair objection. Follow me" the legendary beast led the group far into the forests surrounding Ecruteak. When they had reached a fair distance away from the city the legendary stopped "We will begin on my count. Prepare yourself" Ash dropped his hat, bag and book before removing his illusion "Three" Ash prepared a shadow ball "Two" Suicune prepared to run "One" A silence fell around the forest "Begin!" Suicune planted her feet into the ground before Ash could fire his attack letting a bright blue shield spread around her body. Ash fired his attack a second later, as it collided with Suicune in a bright flash it bounded back towards Ash leaving the trainer less then a second to dodge

Ash jumped to the left as the Shadow Ball sailed past him far into the trees of the forest "You must learn to fire quicker than your opponent" she shouted firing a bubblebeam at the trainer "Use your natural abilites! You can create anything with illusions, so use them!"

Ash grimaced glancing around the area slowly "This isn't a fight is it?" he asked creating an illusion of a Pidgeot and taking off into the sky "You don't want me to win, you just want to teach me" Ash fired multiple Air Slashes at the legendary

Suicune fired an Aurora Beam at Ash forcing him to drop to the ground "That is the main intention, yes" Ash rolled firing another round of Shadow Balls at the legendary, each one of them being deflected again "However, if you use the knowledge I will teach you here quickly you can win this"

Ash stood thinking quickly watching the legendary intently. A few seconds past before he moved. Ash dashed to the right of Suicune before charging forward, claws glowing a bright white, slashing at Suicune. A few hits landed on the legendary before it pushed Ash back with a Gust "I will admit. That was unsuspected, by attacking from the front is not a wise strat-" A shadowball hit Suicune in the back from nowhere. Ash disappeared before reappearing behind Suicune, throwing more Shadowballs. Soon the legendary was on it's knees "Enough!"

Suicune stood up suddenly turning to Ash "That was an amazing strategy, under most circumstances it would work. However against a strong opponent, like myself, it would not be effective. You did put the lessons into place though, good job"

Ash raised an eyebrow taking his human illusion back on "So... did I pass?"

Suicune smiled "Indeed. My brothers will soon be testing you however. I will join your team now, if you approve of that"

Ash smiled widely "Of course!" he ran over to his bag. A few seconds of rummaging through it later Ash produced a pokeball "Are you sure about this?"

Suicune nodded "I do not ask unless I am sure of myself. On principle" Ash nodded, before throwing the pokeball. It captured Suicune without so much as a shake. Ash walked over to the pokeball before releasing Suicune "Now, I believe you were on the way to Ecruteak's gym correct? Follow me, I memorised the way" The legendary led the group back through the forest, retracing the steps they had taken

Soon the group was back in front of the gym exactly where Suicune had met them previously "No legendary pokemon to interrupt us this time right?" Tracey joked as the group made their way into the gym. Inside a battle was seemingly reaching its end. The gym leader, identified as Morty by the signs outside, was currently recalling a fainted Gengar while the challenger, who was obscured from view, recalled an Arcanine still standing

"Good job, kid" Morty said strolling across the battlefield "Was a good stratergy, can't lie." he handed the challenger a badge "Now I've got some more challengers so... if you could go"

The challenger nodded before turning around. Revealing himself to the group to be Ash's rival, Gary Oak. Gary stopped upon seeing the group before a wide smile came across his face "So you finally caught up!" Gary grinned "Was wondering when we would see each other again"

Ash flipped a page in his book grinning madly "What can I say, we go fast"

"No we don't!" Misty called out "We spent two weeks on the way to one city"

Ash rolled his eyes flipping another page "We go fast sometimes"

Gary smiled "Well, I can't lose my lead can I? Sorry not to stick around but... I really need to get to my next gym badge" Gary walked past Ash. Attempting to leave the building before having his arm caught by Ash

Ash hurriedly flipped a page in his book "just promise me something. You make it to the finals this time"

Gary looked shocked for a second before smiling "I promise. And you better give me a damn good battle"

Ash nodded letting go of the Oak's arm before flipping another page "I promise. I'll see you around then?"

Gary smiled "Yeah. Good luck with the battle" The trainer left the building with a wave of the hand

Ash turned to Morty who was pulling multiple pokeballs off his belt "You're Ash Ketchum right?"

Ash stepped up to the other side of the battlefield before flipping another page in his book "Yeah. I assume you have some sort of weird challenge for me?"

Morty smiled softly "You're starting to get the hang of this. So for this 'weird challenge'" he said a heavy drawl on the last two words "it's going to be a one on one fight. Unlike Whitney's though you can use moves and all that. The catch is we're both going to be blindfolded"

The referee that was standing on the edge of the arena since the last battle ran over to Ash, passing him a blindfold, then ran over to Morty and repeated the process

Ash flipped a page in his book "Anything else? Ringouts possible or no?"

Morty shrugged "We can't even see the ring's edge so nah. Now put that blindfold on and let's get down to business" Morty tied his around his head soon followed by Ash "Send your pokemon out on three 'kay?"

"Who's taking this fight?" Ash asked as Morty started counting

Suicune stepped forward "I am used to fighting without directions. I shall be able to win this"

"Go!" Morty called throwing his pokeball, unknown to Ash to be a Sableye, "Power gem!" purple energy began gathering on Sabeleye's back before lighting the gem in it's stomach a bright pink

"Make sure to dodge it. Mist to make sure it can't see... Also what are we dealing with? I'm blind after all"

Suicune jumped elegantly into the air avoiding the beam fired from Sableye before firing a white smoke onto the arena "A sableye. I would personally recommend the usage of Hydro Pump to pressure it"

Ash grinned "Alright, Hydro Pump into a Ice Fang. Make sure it can't get an attack in!" Suicune fired a strong blast of water at the Sableye knocking it onto it's back. Landing on the ground a second later she charged in next to the dark type opening her mouth to reveal fangs glowing a bright blue. A second later she bit into Sableye causing the ghost type to writhe in pain before jumping back

The smoke cleared a second later revealing the battlefield and a knocked out Sableye. The referee raised a flag "The winner is Ash Ketchum!"

Morty ripped the blindfold off his head in surprise "Wait already?" he looked at Suicune "Kid, that was overkill and you know it"

Ash shrugged ripping the blindfold off his head. Ash flipped a page in his book "Yeah... Sorry about that"

Morty shrugged waltzing across the battlefield, recalling Sableye as he went. "It worked though so I can't say you didn't win" he unclipped a badge off his shirt "Here's your prize. The Fog Badge." he passed Ash the badge "And your next fight should be in Olivine City which is West of here. I'll tell the leader you're coming"

Ash grinned pinning the badge to his coat before flipping a page in his book "Thank you. I guess we'll be on our way then"

Morty waved his hand as the group left the Gym on the way to Olivine City

Unknown to our heroes was that the trip to Olivine would be longer than they thought. And involve a world ending event that had been planned for multiple months. But for now our heroes continue unaware of this with the sight of Ash's fifth gym badge ahead

* * *

Authors Corner: Man that was a sloppy ending. So today, October 25th 2017, is the one year anniversary of this story starting so I would to kinda reflect on this past year

If you don't want to see my odd ramblings then there's a slight announcement at the bottom of the page

So one year ago I started writing this and, in all honesty, the first eight or so chapters are completely awful. I would not read them if I came across them nowadays and so I thank everyone who has actually stuck through and read those starting chapters. Thank you truly. And I know the new chapters aren't amazing but I think they're better. I know my upload schedule has been... Awful at best. But I think the fact I've put out more than one chapter a month is pretty good. And finally the stats for this story. I think they're pretty good for this being my second time writing. 42 reviews, 75 follows, 65 favourites and 15,494 views

And now that announcement

Since this is the one year anniversary I will be putting out another chapter either today or tomorrow. This chapter will be movie four and so it's kinda the culmination of the storyline I've been building over the past few months

Please look forward to that and. Until next time


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